Wrestling Finishes Fourth At NEWA Duals Championship

Providence, R.I. - January 21, 2024 - The Springfield College wrestling team finished fourth at the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Duals Championship on Sunday at Johnson & Wales.

Springfield, which was seeded fourth entering the tournament, began the day with a 39-18 win over Williams before besting Western New England, 24-21, to reach the semifinals. The Pride, which was ranked 23rd nationally in national dual rankings, was upended by sixth-ranked JWU, 41-4, before falling to seventh-ranked Vermont State Castleton, 35-6.

Versus Williams, Springfield earned a quick 12 points from forfeits at 125 and 133 before Ryan Kozdra (Mahwah, N.J.) pinned his opponent in 4:22 at 141. After the Ephs notched a pin at 149, Lucien Perla (Stow, Mass.) notched a 19-3 technical fall at 157. Myles Leonard (Waldwick, N.J.) would then tack on a pin in 6:34 at 174, while Nicholas Rogers (Watertown, N.Y.) had a 12-4 major decision at 197 and Ben Katz (Medford, N.Y.) registered a pin in 6:14 to close out the match.

The Pride got off to another fast start versus Western New England to take an early 12-0 lead as Jack Callahan (Tewksbury, Mass.) had a pin in 3:04 at 125 and Gianni Manginelli (Dumont, N.J.) followed with a first-period pinfall of his own at 133. The teams would trade decisions, with Ty Stewart (Dracut, Mass.) collecting three points at 149, before the Golden Bears won the next three bouts to even up the match at 15-15. After Rodges notched a 19-4 technical fall at 184, WNE responded with a first-period pin at 197 to take a 21-20 lead heading into the final weight class. However, Katz came up with a dominant 10-0 major decision to propel the Pride to the semifinals.

In the semifinals versus Johnson & Wales, Springfield picked up the first points of the day thanks to a 9-0 major decision by Callahan at 125. The Wildcats responded with winning the final nine bouts, despite Manginelli nearly knocked off the nation's second-ranked wrestler at 133 as he was edged by a 4-3 decision. In the third-place matchup, seventh-ranked Castleton won eight of the bouts to cruise to a 35-6 win. Manginelli picked up a 4-2 decision at 133 and Leonard registered an 8-5 win at 165.