BRISTOL, R.I. – The 22nd-ranked Castleton University wrestling team grabbed its first tournament victory of the season on Saturday, finishing the day atop the 12-team field at the Roger Williams Invitational.
 
The Spartans collected 165 team points on the day with 15 total place-finishers. Wisconsin-Eau Claire—which is tied for 22nd in the national rankings with Castleton—finished second while Johnson & Wales placed third. Castleton's 15 place-finishers were the most of any team at the event, with Eau Claire and JWU each garnering 12.
 
James Rodriguez won the 141-pound bracket for the second week in a row, while Kaya Bogle at 125 and Cooper Fleming at 174 joined him atop the podium in their respective weight classes. Shea Garand (285) and Haven Tatarek (197) registered second-place finishes while Nicholas Roeger (149), Michael Angers (165) and Abbas Abdulrahman (285) placed third in their weight classes. Sampson Wilkins (184), Michael Gonyea (133), Izaiah Otero (165) and Gavin Bradley (125) were fourth in their class. Josh Negron (184) and Jashon Holmes (157) finished fifth and Elijah Cyr (149) rounded out the place-finishers in sixth place.
 
Rodriguez topped the 141-pound podium after winning an 8-3 decision over JWU's Victor Perlleshi. Bogle dominated JWU's Harrison Gordon in the 125-pound final, claiming a 14-0 major decision and coming up just shy of a technical fall. Fleming, ranked sixth in the nation at 174, won the 174-pound crown with a first-period pin in 2:46 over Eau Claire's Jared Stricker—the fifth-ranked wrestler in the country at 174.
 
Garand came up on the short side of a 4-0 decision in the heavyweight title bout, falling to Coast Guard's Carl DiGiorgio. Tatarek fell via 8-1 decision to JWU's Dylan Harr, who ranks among one of nation's best at his weight class. Roeger was credited with the win in the third-place bout by no-contest against Eau Claire's Zach Sato, as Sato had already wrestled six matches on the day leading up to the match. Angers and Otero were slated to go head-to-head for the 165-pound third-place match, but Angers earned the win via medical forfeit by Otero, giving Castleton the third and fourth-place finishers at 165. Abdulrahman competed in a tight battle with Norwich's Mason Sprinkel in the third-place match of the heavyweight division, picking up a 10-7 win via decision for the bronze.
 
At 184, Wilkins earned his way into the third-place bout but came up just short with a 3-1 decision loss in the match. Gonyea was leading in his third-place match against Bridgewater State's Wilson Gomes, but Gomes was able to pin Gonyea in the second period, finishing Gonyea fourth in his bracket. For the second week in a row, Bradley—the rookie 125-pounder—found himself in the third-place match. He came up short against Jake Craig of Southern Maine, falling via major decision to take fourth place.
 
Negron won the fifth-place match at 184 pounds, besting Connor Collins of Eau Claire with a 3-1 decision. Holmes earned fifth at 157 with Jeremy Sendrowski having hit six matches in the day, forcing a no-contest result in Castleton's favor. Cyr rounded out Castleton's place finishers with a decision loss in the fifth-place match at 149 pounds to Wesleyan's Jack Wemmlinger.
 
Castleton is back on the mat Wednesday night at Norwich in the Battle for the Green Mountain Championship at 7 p.m.