Springfield, Mass. - February 27, 2022- The Springfield College wrestling team finished fourth at the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional Championships in the Springfield College Field House and had six wrestlers finish in the top five in their respective weight classes.
The top three finishers in each of the 10 weight classes earned 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. The Pride had one student-athlete punch his ticket to nationals as Joey Manginelli (Dumont, N.J.) will represent Springfield College at 125 pounds.
A total of eight wrestlers competed on Sunday and Joey Manginelli highlighted the group as he earned his second trip to the NCAA's, with his initial trip coming in 2020 as a freshman. Manginelli, who was the second seed in the weight class, was bested by JWU's Justin Lopez by a 7-4 decision in the semifinals, but responded with an 11-2 major decision against David Yeh of Williams in the consolation semifinals. In the third-place match against Christopher DeRosa from NEC, Manginelli was impressive as he grinded out a 5-2 win to earn a spot at nationals.
Gianni Manginelli (Dumont, N.J.) put forth a incredible showing in his first regionals appearance at 133 pounds. Seeded fifth in his weight class, he was able to win a 7-3 decision over Nicholas Kruczynski from NYU to begin his day and then delivered a 2-1 decision against Castleton's Michael Gonyea, only to be clipped by JWU's Bagriel Leo-Esparolini, 5-4, in the third-place match.
At 141, Chris Trelli (Bristol, Conn.) was topped by Hayden Brown from JWU, 4-0, in the semifinals and edged by Chris Perry from Trinity, 2-1, but was able to bounce back with an 8-1 victory versus Caden Mareno of Coast Guard to finish in fifth. In the semifinals of 149, Chase Parrott (Stamford, Conn.) was clipped by Kyle Merritt of Norwich, 8-5 and dropped a 7-4 decision in the final seconds to Colby Frost of Southern Maine in the consolation semifinals. However, in the fifth-place match Parrott powered past Nicholas Roeger of Castleton, 6-5, to finish in fifth.
Jacob Deguire (Schenectady, N.Y.) pinned Luke Pinzino from WNE in 3:31 to continue his tournament at 157 pounds, but was defeated by Joe Chapman from Coast Guard, 9-3, in the consolation semifinals. In fitting fashion, Deguire ended his season with another pinfall, avenging his quarterfinal loss to Albert Xing of Williams by pinning him in 51 seconds as he finished in fifth.
At 285, Michael Filieri (Garfield, N.J.) wrestled tough in the consolation bracket en route to taking fifth, starting with a 6-1 decision over Frances Boahen from NEC. Filieri was edged in overtime, 7-5, by Addison Boisvert from RWU in the consolation semifinals, but earned a 2-0 decision against Timothy Ganuncio of Coast Guard to take fifth.
Sam Ware (Oakham, Mass.) took seventh at 197 as he dropped an 11-2 major decision against Tommy Wrzesian from JWU to start off his day but bounced back with a pin in just 31 seconds against Southern Maine's Anthony Mears. Jake Harry (Lancaster, N.Y.) was downed by Fox Maxwell from Bridgewater State with an 11-2 major decision and pinned by Jack Reusing of Wesleyan in 2:25 to finish in eighth at 165.
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