CASTLETON, Vt. – The Green Mountain Championship stays home at Vermont State University Castleton for yet another year. In the ninth all-time meeting between the two programs, and the eighth Battle for the Green Mountain State, the Spartans took down Norwich 43-7, in front of a packed crowd in Glenbrook Gym Thursday night.
Castleton and Norwich are the only two collegiate wrestling programs in the state of Vermont. Since the Spartans' inaugural season of wrestling in 2016, they have met eight times for the trophy match up, with Castleton winning each of the last seven Green Mountain Championship titles.
Drew Marchese opened the night for the Spartans at 125 pounds, taking down Robby Lyons 17-0 for a technical fall, putting Castleton up 5-0.
Griffin Norwalt took the mat at 133 pounds, narrowly falling via decision to Carver Moyer, 9-8, giving the Cadets three team points.
Stone Farnsworth showed out at 141 pounds, with a 59-second pin to put the Spartans up 11-3 as the crowd exploded.
Nicolas Balella found himself with Castleton's second technical fall of the day, taking down William Burke 18-1 at 149 pounds, extending the score to 16-3.
Nathaniel Camiscioli earned a 15-4 win via major decision over Gannon White at 157 pounds for four team points, as
Jashon Holmes pinned the second Cadet of the day in 2:36 at 165 pounds, putting Castleton up 26-3.
Colby Celuck kept the crowd going with a 17-1 technical fall win over Gabe Moltumyr at 174 pounds, followed by
Desmond McLaughlin, who kept that momentum going with a 2:07 pin at 184 pounds, giving the Spartans a 37-3 lead.
Josh Negron earned Castleton's final win of the night at 197 pounds, with a pin in 1:49, giving them 43 team points. The Cadets took the final match at 285 pounds, as
Colton Perkins fought hard, but fell 12-2 via major decision, giving Norwich seven team points. Despite two dropped matches, Castleton hung on to the Green Mountain Championship with a 43-7 win.
The team heads to Johnson & Wales on Saturday, November 15, for the Johnson & Wales Quad, set to begin at 1 p.m.
