CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The Vermont State University Castleton wrestling team made program history on Saturday, solidifying itself as one of the top teams in the nation, placing fifth at the NWCA National Duals.
The Spartans entered the tournament as the sixth seed in Division III and the No. 7 team in the NWCA's latest Dual Rankings, taking home two big wins, the first over No. 10 North Central to start day two, with an 18-14 victory. Taking on No. 12 Coe College in the final match for the Spartans of the tournament, the squad came out victorious with a 22-14 win.
The fifth-place finish is the Spartans best-ever finish in the three appearances at the tournament, improving upon last season's seventh-place finish, and 11th-place finish in the team's first appearance the season before.
No. 7 VTSU Castleton 18, No. 10 North Central 14
After dropping the first match of the day at 125 pounds, the Spartans quickly recovered and took the next five matches. Kaya Bogle took down his opponent via decision at 133 pounds, and James Rodriguez took down No. 13 Bradley Rosen at 141 pounds. Elijah Cyr and Jashon Holmes added to the Spartans lead, taking down their opponent by decision to put the team up 15-4.
Castleton dropped the next two matches, 174 and 184 pounds, before Haven Tatarek took down Casey Aikman by decision, 7-3, to bring the Spartans to 18. The final bout of the match was dropped, but the Spartans escaped with an 18-14 victory to earn a trip to the fifth-place match.
No. 7 VTSU Castleton 22, No. 12 Coe College 14
The Spartans picked up a win at 125 pounds, with Gavin Bradley winning by decision, before dropping match two at 133 pounds giving Coe a 4-3 advantage. Rodriguez and Cyr took their second wins of the day at 141 and 149 pounds respectively via decisions to put the Spartans up 9-4. Nathaniel Camiscioli took down his opponent via major decision to give the Spartans four more points.
Holmes added another three points to the growing Spartan lead with an 8-1 win to put Castleton up 16-4 heading into the final four matches. Dropping the 174 and 184 pound matches brought the Kohawks within two. Tatarek earned a win by decision at 197 pounds as did Abbas Abdulrahman, giving the Spartans the 22-14 victory and the historic fifth-place finish for the program.
