Higgins, Maxwell Advance to Sunday at NCAA Northeast Regional Wrestling Championships

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Bridgewater State University sophomore 165-pounder Fox Maxwell (Wilmington, Mass.) and freshman heavyweight Ryan Higgins (Billerica, Mass.) each advanced to day two of the 2019 NCAA Division III Northeast Regional Wrestling Championships hosted by Johnson & Wales University this weekend at the Wildcat Center.

Maxwell opened the day with back-to-back victories including an injury default (5:39) win against Roy Forys (#4 New England) of Wesleyan University and an 8-1 decision over Plymouth State's Bill Dunn. He then dropped a 13-5 major decision to Adrian Gonzalez (#3 New England) of Johnson & Wales in the quarterfinals, before bouncing back with an 11-3 major decision triumph over RIC's Tim Caplan.

Maxwell will take on Jack Reilly of Trinity College in the consolation quarterfinals on Sunday morning.

After getting pinned (2:00) by Joe Fusco (#1 New England) of Springfield College, Higgins bounced back with a win by fall (2:45) against Enrique Loya of Trinity College. He then edged Southern Maine's Mike Risti (#6 New England), 2-1, to advance to the consolation quarterfinals. Higgins will face WPI's Nick Day (#5 New England) on Sunday morning.

Higgins is now 26-9 (.743) on the season, while Maxwell improves to 23-11 (.676).

BSU senior 141-pounder Andrew Valdina (Dracut, Mass.) and sophomore 174-pounder Wilfredo David (Chicopee, Mass.) each went 1-2 on the day.

The Bears are in 15th place in the team standing after day one with 19.5 points.