CASTLETON, Vt. – The 11th-ranked Vermont State University Castleton wrestling team showed why it's respected as one of the top programs in the nation on Wednesday night, dominating in-state rival Norwich University 50-6 in the annual Battle for the Green Mountain Championship.
 
VTSU Castleton and Norwich—the only two collegiate wrestling programs in the state—have met six times for the trophy matchup since the Spartans' inaugural season of wrestling in 2016, with Castleton winning each of the last five Green Mountain Championship titles. A raucous crowd of Spartan supporters was on hand to see another dominant Spartan win, a follow-up to the 49-0 drubbing a season ago in Northfield.
 
The Spartans were rarely challenged through the first nine bouts of the evening. Gavin Bradley was declared the winner via forfeit at 125 pounds to put Castleton ahead 6-0 right out of the gate. Kaya Bogle extended the lead to 11-0 when he posted an 18-0 win via technical fall that took only two periods to complete. James Rodriguez collected a tech fall win of his own—a 22-6 rout at 141 pounds. Rodriguez's victory pushed the Spartan lead to 16-0 through three bouts.
 
At 149, Elijah Cyr was a machine en route to victory over Greyson Merola. Cyr had multiple takedowns and nearfalls, needing only 2:15 seconds to post a tech fall, 19-4, and extend the lead to 21-0. Darius Mangiafico got the nod at 157 pounds, pinning Jonathan Neypes in the first period at the 2:05 mark to extend the advantage to 27-0. Nicholas Roeger collected Castleton's fourth tech fall of the evening at 165 pounds, winning 18-3 for a 32-0 lead.
 
At 174, Desmond McLaughlin notched the first of what would become three consecutive Spartan pins. McLaughlin stuck James Spellman in just 2:20 before Sampson Wilkins did the same to Tommy Howell in 2:11. Darby McLaughlin kept the pin party going, notching a fall in 1:23 over Thoren Berg at 197 pounds.
 
Castleton's only loss of the day came at the heavyweight class, with Mason Sprinkel of Norwich taking advantage of an aggressive Evan Day and notching a pin for the Cadets. Day was leading 3-0 in the first period and was amassing riding time when Sprinkel reversed him and rolled Day onto his back for the pin.
 
The two sides also wrestled 11 exhibition bouts, with Castleton claiming victories in 10 of those. Tylik Epps and Syrus Colon each had two victories in exhibition action.
 
The Spartans will be tested this weekend with a pair of duals on Saturday in the Journeyman Wrestling Division III Showcase in Albany, N.Y.