Springfield, Mass. - February 26, 2022- The Springfield College wrestling team hosted the first day of the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional Championships in the Springfield College Field House and had eight wrestlers earn spots in Sunday's second day of competition.
As a team, the Pride is tied for fourth with 62.5 points among the 19 teams in the competition. The top three finishers in each of the 10 weight classes will earn a spot in the NCAA Division III Championships which will be held March 11-12 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
For Springfield, three wrestlers will compete in the semifinals on Sunday, while five are battling their way back through the consolation bracket.
At 125 pounds, second-seeded Joey Manginelli (Dumont, N.J.) kicked off his regionals with a workmanlike 10-5 win over Tanner Thatcher of WPI and then coasted to 7-1 victory against Frank Darwak from Castleton University in the quarterfinals.
Chris Trelli (Bristol, Conn.), the third seed at 141, delivered a 5-0 decision against Caden Mareno from Coast Guard and then cruised to a 14-4 major decision against RIC's Hunter Lundberg. In the quarters, Trelli turned in an 8-1 decision against Joseph Lotruglio of Norwich to advance to the semifinals. Chase Parrott (Stamford, Conn.) was dominant in his opener as the third-seed at 149 pounds earned a 14-3 major decision against Tyler O`Mara of Plymouth State and followed with a 4-0 decision against Jack Murphy from Williams to improve to 2-0 on the day.
Jacob Deguire (Schenectady, N.Y.) pinned Deston McFarlane of Hunter College in 3:10 to get things going at 157 for the No. 4 seed in the weight class, but Albert Xing of Williams benefitted from a riding-time point for a 9-8 win. However, the first-year rebounded with a 14-7 decision Cameron Wooldridge from Norwich to continue in the tournament.
Seeded fifth at 133 pounds, Gianni Manginelli (Dumont, N.J.) opened up his tournament with a 10-9 decision against Cameron Pleninger from Merchant Marine and then battled his way back in the third period for 9-5 triumph against Ethan Ford of Southern Maine. In the quarters, Diego Santiago from New England College edged Manginelli in triple overtime, 2-1, but the junior came back in the consolation bracket against Pleninger again and posted a 12-4 major decision.
Wrestling at 165, Jake Harry (Lancaster, N.Y.) bested Brendan Kiernan of Williams, 8-4, before Kevin Lyskawa from Trinity prevailed 9-2 in the quarterfinals. The senior then bounced back with a 7-2 decision against Norwich's Tyler Barker to move on to Sunday. Sam Ware (Oakham, Mass.) was seeded seventh at 197 and pinned Bridgewater State's Ryan McCartney in 4:39 before NYU's Matthew Kelly prevailed by a 19-4 technical fall. Ware battled back in the consolation with another pin, this time in 2:48 against Niko Chitty of Norwich, to move onto Sunday.
At 285, Michael Filieri (Garfield, N.J.) was seeded third and opened the tournament by pinning Jaylin Houston from Plymouth State in just 1:27, but was then clipped in the quarters by NYU's Will Ortman, 3-1. In the consolation bracket, Filieri toughed out a 7-2 decision over Thomas Goodwin of Williams.
The action continues on Sunday beginning at 11 am.
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