Worcester, Mass. - December 7, 2011 - Four different Springfield wrestlers notched pins to lift the Pride to a 40-6 victory over host WPI Wednesday evening in dual-meet opener for both squads.Tom Casper, the New England Wrestling Association’s (NEWA) sixth-ranked wrestler at 125 pounds got the visitors off on the right foot with a pin at 4:38. WPI quickly answered back as freshman Tyler Tilbe posted a hard-earned decision at 133 to move his record to 7-4 on the season.
Springfield, ranked second as a team in the latest NEWA poll, then rattled off six straight bout wins highlighted by a late pin from Derek Adams at 141 pounds at 6:52 and back-to-back first period pins by second-ranked Ryan McGilvray and James Coutoumas at 157 and 165 respectively. During the spurt, Eric Hamrick posted a 7-1 decision at 149 while Ronald Thompson added a 13-4 major at 174 and Matthew Artigliere delivered a tech fall at 184.
The Engineers, who were christening a new wrestling mat during its 50th anniversary season, got back on the board when Teddy Kostopoulos was victorious in a close 3-1 bout at 197. Michael Case closed out the scoring for Springfield with 12-0 shutout at heavy weight.
Weight - Result-Score/Time-Running Score
125 - Tom Casper (SC) Pinned DJ Russo (WPI) - 4:38 (6-0)
133 - Tyler Tilbe (WPI) Dec. Victor Ekpenyong (SC) - 2-1 (3-6)
141 - Derek Adams (SC) Pinned Matt Taber (WPI) - 6:52 (12-3)
149 -Eric Hamrick (SC) Dec. Andrew Tanner (WPI) - 7-1 (15-3)
157 - Ryan McGilvray (SC) Pinned Zach Hartzell (WPI) - 1:15 (21-3)
165 - James Coutoumas ( SC) Pinned Tom Lacroix (WPI) - 2:57 (27-3)
174 - Ronald Thompson (SC) Maj. Dec. Andres Pedraza Rayo (WPI) - 13-4 (31-3)
184 - Matthew Artigliere (SC) Tech Fall Duncan MacKinnon (WPI) -19-3 (6:08) (36-3)
197 - Teddy Kostopoulos (WPI) Dec. Raymond Sturdy IV (SC) - 3-1 (36-6)
285 -Michael Case (SC) Maj. Dec. Bryan Barnash (WPI) - 12-0 (40-6)
Jason Holder will enter his second season as head wrestling coach in 2012. Holder had a standout first season at the helm of the Pride, leading Springfield to the NEWA Duals Championship and taking three wrestlers to the NCAA Championships.
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