ALBANY, N.Y. – The Vermont State University Castleton wrestling program continued its winning ways on Saturday, sweeping a trio of dual matches against some stiff competition at the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany, N.Y.
 
Wrestling in the Journeymen Wrestling Division III Showcase, the Spartans topped Stevens Tech, ranked No. 6 nationally in The Open Mat's most recent dual rankings, Cornell College and York College of Pennsylvania. The first win came in a tight battle with the highly-ranked Ducks, 22-14, but the Spartans cruised 27-11 against Cornell and 46-0 against York.
 
VTSU Castleton 22, Stevens Tech 14
The Spartans, ranked eighth in The Open Mat rankings after Wednesday's win over Norwich, came out firing against Stevens Tech in the first match of the day. Gavin Bradley got on the board first with a win via technical fall for a 5-0 lead, but Stevens had a tech fall of its own at 133 to level the score at 5-5. After 10th-ranked Nico Diaz of Stevens Tech bested James Rodriguez—the pre-season No. 3 at 141 pounds—with a tight decision, Castleton was in an 8-5 hole and trailing for the first time in a dual this season. Elijah Cyr tied the score once more with a decision win of his own at 149 pounds to make it 8-8 through four bouts.
 
Nathaniel Camiscioli earned a big win at 157 pounds, claiming a 9-0 major decision to put the Spartans ahead 12-8. The lead was cut to one after Stevens Tech won a 4-3 decision at 165 pounds, but Desmond McLaughlin cushioned the lead back to 15-11 with an 8-7 victory in the 174-pound bout. Sampson Wilkins backed it up at 184 pounds by winning a 5-2 decision to pad the advantage to 18-11. An 8-6 decision went in Stevens Tech's favor at 197 pounds to make it 18-14 going into the final bout. Abbas Abdulrahman came through in the clutch, winning an 8-0 major decision to lift the Spartans to a 22-14 victory.
 
VTSU Castleton 27, Cornell College 11
Bradley again began with a win for the Spartans in the second match of the day, topping his challenger 14-6 for a 4-0 lead in the team score. A matching major decision going the other direction at 133 leveled the match at 4-4 before Rodriguez won a 17-8 major decision at 141 for an 8-4 lead. Cornell won a 5-2 decision at 149 to pull within a point at 8-7, but but the Spartans won the next four bouts to pull away rapidly.
 
Camiscioli was victorious 8-5 at 157 pounds, Nicholas Roeger won 14-1 at 165 pounds and McLaughlin was victorious 13-3 at 174 to go ahead 19-7 and setting up a bout between nationally-ranked wrestlers at 184 pounds. Wilkins, the pre-season No. 3 at 184, faced off with Cael McLaren, the pre-season No. 12 in the weight class, coming out on top in an 8-0 major to seal the victory in the dual for the Spartans. The Rams won at 197 pounds to put the score at 23-11 before Shea Garand cruised to a 9-1 win in the heavyweight class for the 27-11 final.
 
VTSU Castleton 46, York College 0
In the final dual of the day, Castleton claimed all 10 weight classes in their first shutout of the season. In a dominant showing, Bradley pinned his opponent in less than a minute and Drew Marchese followed with a 16-1 win via tech fall to race out to an 11-0 lead. Rodriguez notched a 22-5 tech fall of his own, and Cyr won an 8-5 decision to bolster the lead to 19-0 through four classes. Jashon Holmes tallied a 16-8 major decision and Roeger followed with an 8-1 decision at 165. After a forfeit at 174 pounds pushed the Spartan lead to 32-0, Josh Negron won via fall in 2:09 at 184 pounds.
 
Darby McLaughlin was a 21-5 winner via tech fall at 197 and Haven Tatarek rounded out the day with a 9-5 win via decision in the heavyweight division to seal the 46-0 victory.
 
The Spartans are off until December 2 when they travel to Gorham, Maine, for the Ted Reese Invitational at the University of Southern Maine.