PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The seventh-ranked Vermont State University Castleton wrestling program notched a third-place finish at the New England Wrestling Association Dual Championships on Sunday, matching a program-best result for the third year in a row.
 
The Spartans collected dominant victories over Plymouth State and Wesleyan to open the day, dropping just a single bout in each of the two contests. After a narrow defeat against 13th-ranked Coast Guard in the semifinals that came down to the final weight class, the Spartans rebounded with a 35-6 win over No. 23 Springfield to claim third place at the event.
 
A pair of Spartan seniors reached milestone victories at the event, with Sampson Wilkins and Shea Garand each eclipsing the 100-career win mark on the afternoon. Wilkins went 3-0 on the day to reach the milestone while Garand pick up two wins on the afternoon—both coming via fall. In addition, sophomore Gavin Bradley was named to the NEWA All-Tournament Team after posting a 3-0 mark on the day  at 125 pounds. 
 
No. 7 VTSU Castleton 50, Plymouth State 4
The Spartans coasted to victory in the first-round matchup between No. 2 and No. 15. Caleb Massari got the nod at 125 and kicked things off with a 15-0 shutout to put the Spartans ahead 5-0 with the tech fall. Kaya Bogle followed up with a pin just shy of two minutes into the match and Tylik Epps was granted a win via forfeit at 141 to give VTSU Castleton a 17-0 lead through three bouts. Jashon Holmes was a 17-1 winner via tech fall to extend it to 22-0 in the team score and Blake Chapman notched a first-period pin in 2:42 for a 28-0 edge at the midway mark.
 
Syrus Colon followed Chapman with a pin of his own, needing just 2:04 to stick the opposition. Plymouth grabbed its only win of the match at 174 in a major decision, but Josh Negron got the Spartans back in the win column at 184 with a 17-1 drubbing that ended in a tech fall in the second period. Haven Tatarek was a technical fall winner as well with a 21-6 win before the end of the first period, and Garand closed the match with an emphatic victory, pinning his opponent in just 1:36 to cap the 50-4 blowout.
 
No. 7 VTSU Castleton 38, Wesleyan 4
Gavin Bradley got the Spartans off to a fast start in the quarterfinal round, earning a pin at the 1:33 mark for a 6-0 lead out of the gates. After a major decision loss at 133, James Rodriguez was a winner at 141 with a 10-3 decision to push the Spartans ahead 9-4. Elijah Cyr bumped the lead to 15-4 with a second-period pin at the 4:48 mark and Nathaniel Camiscioli earned a 7-4 win with a sudden-victory takedown at 157 to make it 18-4 halfway through the matchup.
 
Nicholas Roeger blanked his opponent 5-0 at 165 and Desmond McLaughlin rolled to a 12-2 victory at 174 to extend the lead to 25-4. Wilkins was victorious 5-1 at 184 and Darby McLaughlin won 19-3 for a technical fall at 197. Abbas Abdulrahman's tech fall at the heavyweight class put the icing on a 38-4 victory for the Spartans.
 
No. 13 Coast Guard 18, No. 7 VTSU Castleton 16
The semifinal matchup was a battle of two of the nation's top teams, with both sides featuring five or more nationally-ranked wrestlers in their lineup. Bradley started the action with an 8-6 decision, scoring a third-period takedown to break a 5-5 tie late in the match and snag the win. Coast Guard's Chase Randall—ranked in the top-10 at 133 won a tech fall to put the Bears ahead 5-3, but Rodriguez won 7-1 thanks to a late-first-period takedown that gave him the lead and a late-third-period takedown that cushioned the gap. The Spartans led 6-5 through three bouts, Coast Guard's ninth-ranked 149 pounder Nate Fitt was victorious in a narrow 1-0 decision over Cyr, who allowed only a single escape point after Fitt chose bottom position in the second period. Fitt was nearly hit with a stall call late in the match, but hung on to push USCGA ahead 8-6.
 
A highly-anticipated matchup between national No. 10 Camiscioli and No. 11 Noah Caskey of Coast Guard proved to be a comfortable win for Camiscioli, who got ahead with a quick takedown in the first period and never looked back on his way to an 8-1 victory and a 9-8 edge for VTSU Castleton. Roeger added to the lead with an impressive come-from-behind win at 165, trailing 6-4 entering the third period. He was down 7-4 after an escape by Steven Rochard in the third, but a takedown by Roeger with only eight seconds left in regulation leveled the score and forced overtime. In the first sudden victory period, Roeger earned another takedown to win 10-7 and cushion Castleton's lead to 12-8.
 
At 174, Coast Guard took a 13-4 major decision to tie the team scoring at 12-12, but Wilkins came within a point of a tech fall to claim a major decision, 16-2, and give the Spartans a 16-12 lead with two bouts to go. Wilkins was leading 4-1 going into the third period, and snagged four back points early in the period to cement his lead. A late takedown and four more back points gave him a fighting chance at a tech fall, but he came up just a point short to earn the major decision.
 
Darby McLaughlin battled tightly with the second-ranked 197-pounder in the nation in Coy Spooner, only allowing points in a single period, but Spooner was too tough to overcome and took a 6-0 decision to pull Coast Guard within a point and force a winner-take-all bout at 285. Abdulrahman stepped into the circle against Carl DiGiorgio, ranked second in the nation, and gave him an intense battle start-to-finish. Neither side scored an offensive point in regulation, with the match heading to overtime at 1-1 after both chose bottom in their respective decisions and promptly earned escape points. Abdulrahman came close to a takedown late in regulation, but DiGiorgio scrambled well to avoid the attack and force a sudden-victory period. Just over 30 seconds into overtime, DiGiorgio notched a takedown for a 4-1 win and an 18-16 victory for USCGA.
 
No. 7 VTSU Castleton 35, No. 23 Springfield 6
Bradley continued his hot streak with a 16-0 tech fall to open the match, but Springfield's only nationally-ranked wrestler—Gianni Manginelli—got the Pride on the board with a decision to make it 5-3 Spartans. Rodriguez won his third of the day 7-2 and Cyr followed with a major decision 16-4 to extend the team's lead to 12-3. Camiscioli dominated in a 22-7 tech fall win at 157, giving VTSU Castleton a 17-3 lead at the midway point.
 
Springfield won another decision at 165 to make it 17-6, but the Spartans took each bout the rest of the way, beginning with a 12-7 win for Desmond McLaughlin at 174. Wilkins followed with a 14-3 major decision and Tatarek followed suit with an 18-3 tech fall early in the third period. Garand capped the day with a third-period pin, sealing the 35-6 final score at the 5:30 mark.
 
The Spartans travel to Alvernia next weekend for a quad match on Saturday that will see them wrestling Alvernia, Trinity (Conn.) and Delaware Valley.