CASTLETON, Vt. – The fifth-ranked Vermont State University Castleton wrestling program continued its impressive start to the season, leading wire-to-wire in a 42-3 win over the University of Southern Maine on Sunday afternoon at Glenbrook Gym.
 
The victory improved Castleton to 6-0 this season in dual matches, while Southern Maine falls to 1-1 in duals. Combined with exhibition matches on the day, the Spartans won 31 out of 35 bouts in total. Castleton totaled 11 pins as a team between dual and exhibition bouts and tacked on 11 technical falls as well.
 
The dual began with a bang for the Spartans, with Sampson Wilkins setting the tone early at 184 pounds. Late in the first period, Wilkins notched a pin at 2:43 to put Castleton ahead 6-0. Darby McLaughlin one-upped Wilkins, needing only 1:09 to pin his opponent and double the lead to 12-0. Abbas Abdulrahman claimed a 9-3 decision at heavyweight before Gavin Bradley landed a 17-2 tech fall early in the second period to make it 20-0 in favor of VTSU Castleton.
 
At 133 pounds, Drew Marchese battled the NWCA's 12th-ranked wrestler in Jake Craig, and took him down to the wire. Marchese came up a point short, however, with Craig landing a 3-2 win to get the Huskies on the board, 20-3. James Rodriguez put the Spartans back in the win column at 141 with a 10-2 major decision, setting up the match of the day at 149 pounds.
 
Eli Cyr squared off with the NWCA's No. 11 149-pounder in Colby Frost. The bout was scoreless through the first period, and Frost tallied the first score with an escape to start the second. Frost then went ahead 4-0 with a takedown midway through the frame, but Cyr escaped to make it 4-1 at the end of the second. Cyr chose bottom to start the third, netting an escape point to cut it back to a 4-2 deficit. With time winding down in the match, Cyr went on the offensive and notched a takedown as time expired, upsetting Frost by a 5-4 final score and putting Castleton ahead 27-3 in the team scoring.
 
Nathaniel Camiscioli rode the momentum from Cyr's victory, shutting out Troy Moscatelli with an 18-0 technical fall at 157 pounds. Nicholas Roeger was a 12-3 winner via major decision at 165 pounds, and Desmond McLaughlin capped the afternoon with pin in 2:50 to finalize the score at 42-3.
 
The Spartans break for the holidays and return to action with a trip to sunny South Florida on December 29 and 30 for the Citrus Invitational in Fort Lauderdale.