Four Wrestlers Advance at NCAA Division III Northeast Regional Championships

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Four Bridgewater State University grapplers advanced to day two of the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional Wrestling Championships on Saturday at the Rhode Island College Recreation Center.

Sophomore Edwin Morales (Philadelphia, Pa.) went 2-0 out of the 184-pound weight class. Seeded third, Morales won his first bout by forfeit and then pinned (2:29) #6 Daniel Curran of Norwich University to advance to the semifinal round. Morales will take on #2 John Boyle of Johnson & Wales University in the semifinals on Sunday.

Sophomore Ryan Higgins (Billerica, Mass.) pinned (1:30) Western New England's Ben Falivene to open the heavyweight bracket as the #4 seed. After dropping a tough 5-4 decision in sudden victory overtime to fifth-seeded William Ortman of New York University, Higgins blanked #6 John O'Brien of Trinity College, 5-0, to advance to the wrestleback quarterfinals. Higgins will battle #8 Omar Eldaly of New England College on Sunday morning.

Seeded fifth in the 197-pound weight class, senior Henry Oberlander (Mansfield, Mass.) opened the day with a 7-4 win over Duncan Kruetter of Wesleyan University before falling (1:54) to fourth-seeded Tommy Wrzesien of Johnson & Wales University. Oberlander pinned (3:27) Trinity's Anders Klass to advance to the wrestleback quarterfinals as he will take on #8 Travis Arata of Roger Williams University tomorrow morning.

Junior 165-pounder Fox Maxwell (Winchester, Mass.) bounced back from an opening round setback to second-seeded Taylor Shay of Roger Williams University to win each of his next two bouts. Maxwell posted a 16-1 technical fall (4:24) victory over Plymouth State's Colby Ferreti and followed that up with a win by fall (3:09) against #8 Juan Vernaza of the University of Southern Maine. Maxwell will face RIC's Zachary Ford in the wrestleback quarterfinals on Sunday morning.

Bridgewater State is currently in 12th place in the teams standings with 35 points.

Second day action continues Sunday morning at 10:30. Eight wrestlers remain in each weight class, four in the winner's bracket and four in the consolation bracket. With the top three in each weight class headed to the Nationals in two weeks in Cedar Rapids, IA, several paths exist for qualification. For those in the winner's bracket, a win in semifinal match will punch their ticket while a loss will require two wins later in the day to qualify. The four starting in the consolation bracket will need to win three bouts Sunday to secure a spot in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.