Higgins Captures Heavyweight Title to Lead Wrestling at Jim Aguiar Invitational

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Freshman Ryan Higgins (Billerica, Mass.) captured the heavyweight title to lead the Bridgewater State University wrestling team to a third place finish at the Jim Aguiar Invitational hosted by Plymouth State University on Saturday.

Higgins went 3-0 at the tournament as he improved his season record to 20-5 (.800). Higgins recorded a 7-1 victory over David Wingate of Castleton University followed by a 4-2 semifinal decision over Chass St. Phard of Springfield Technical Community College. In the championship bout, Higgins edged Davyn Peterson of Springfield Tech, 2-1, to win the title.

Senior Andrew Valdina (Dracut, Mass.) and sophomores Caleb Lamarre (Brockton, Mass.) and Fox Maxwell (Wilmington, Mass.) each finished third out of their respective weight classes.

Valdina went 3-1 out of the 141-pound weight class as he opened the day with a 4-2 decision over Michael Clymer of Roger Williams University. Following a 9-7 semifinal setback, Valdina won by medical forfeit and then earned a 6-2 victory over Andy Lombard of Johnson & Wales University in the third-place match.

After dropping an opening round decision to Chris Caban of Johnson & Wales in the 133-pound bracket, Lamarre rebounded with a first-period pin (1:11) over freshman teammate Andrew Lopez (Billerica, Mass.). He then posted back-to-back medical forfeit victories to finish third.

Maxwell opened the 165-pound bracket with a 9-6 decision over Steven Ocampo of Johnson & Wales. He then earned a forfeit victory over Billy Dunn of host Plymouth State to advance to the semifinals. Following a 21-9 major decision loss to Johnson & Wales' Adrian Gonzalez, Maxwell bounced back with 14-0 major decision victory over Josh Fontanez of Springfield Tech. He then edged Dunn in the third-place match, 2-1. Maxwell is now 15-5 (.750) on the season.

The Bears finished with 52.5 team points to finish behind Roger Williams (64.5 pts.) and team champion Johnson & Wales (94 pts.).

The BSU wrestling team is back in action on Sunday, January 20th as the Bears will compete at the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Dual Meet Tournament hosted by Johnson & Wales.