Wrestling Drops Anchormen, 21-18

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Rhode Island College and Plymouth State College each won five individual matches Wednesday evening, but the Anchormen pulled out a 21-18 decision over the Panthers in a college wrestling meet at Foley Gymnasium.

Rhode Island College, ranked eighth in New England, improves to 1-0 in duals this season, while Plymouth State, ranked 10th in New England, drops to 0-2 in duals.

The Anchormen jumped out to a 17-8 lead after victories by freshman Dennis Stone at 174, sophomore Justin Deveau at 197, sophomore Eddy German at 125, and senior Mike Riley at 133. PSC countered with wins by junior Nate Kittredge at 184 and classmate Rick Simula at heavyweight.

Trailing 17-8, PSC won three of the final four bouts but it wasn’t enough to stop the Anchormen. Senior Shaun Cleary won at 141, sophomore Micah Canestaro took his match at 149, and junior Rich Moskowitz was a winner at 165, but RIC freshman Carlos Lopez defeated sophomore Dan Moskowitz at 157 to clinch the match for the Anchormen.

Plymouth State College had three place-winners and placed eighth among 15 teams Saturday, December 7 at the annual RIT Invitational Wrestling Tournament.

The Panthers finished with 52 points, narrowly edging out Wilkes College for eighth place. Ithaca captured the tournament title with 144 points, followed by John Carroll (124), Baldwin-Wallace (108.5), Oswego State (87.5), Cortland State (83), Johnson & Wales (64) and Wesleyan (61). Rounding out the team scores were Case Western Reserve (43.5), RIT (42), MIT (29), Rhode Island College (24.5), Waynesburg (23) and TCCC (4).

Leading the group of 12 Panther wrestlers were senior 141-pounder Shaun Cleary and junior heavyweight Rick Simula, who both finished runner-up in their weight classes.

Sophomore Dan Moskowitz placed fourth for the Panthers at 149 pounds. Cleary finished in the top three in his weight class for the third straight tournament. The top seed in the tournament, he won four straight matches to advance to the 141-pound final, but suffered a 2-1 tough loss on a tiebreaker to Dan Ralph of John Carroll, just his second loss this season. Cleary, who was third at the Roger Williams Tournament and won the Oneonta State (NY) Invitational last month, now sports a 15-2 record on the year.

Simula, who was seeded seventh in last Saturday’s tournament, won his first three matches to advance to the championship bout. He was defeated in the final, though, by Greg Walker of MIT, 7-0. Simula, who was looking for his second straight tournament title after winning the Oneonta Tournament, is now 8-4 this season.

Dan Moskowitz, who was making his first appearance of the season after recovering from an injury, received the fifth seed in the tournament. He was upset in his first match by Dave Bisers of RIT, 9-5, but rebounded by winning five straight matches in the back draw. Unfortunately he placed fourth as he was pinned in 5:41 by Ithaca’s Greg Skiff in the third/fourth place match.

Other Panthers who had at least a .500 record in the tournament included sophomore Micah Canestaro, who was 3-2 at 141 pounds, and junior Charlie Kenna, who was 2-2 at 133 pounds.

The Panthers complete action for the first semester this Saturday in a tri-meet at Southern Maine with Roger Williams (12 p.m.).