Wrestling Pins Down Eighth Place

This past Saturday, Plymouth State’s wrestling team traveled to the University of Southern Maine for the annual Ted Reese Invitational. Big wins from Dylan da Silva (Bayville, NJ) and underclassman Will Jarvis (Point Pleasant Beach, NJ) helped bring the Panthers to 31.5 total team points and finish in eighth place out of 15 teams. Coach Eric Bergeron said, “We continue to improve each match and the goal is to be at our best when it comes to the regional tournament at the end of the season.”

da Silva wrestled again in the 184-weight group, pinning his first opponent in just over two minutes in the match. He grabbed another win for the day by a 7-3 decision but suffered his first loss in a 5-1 decision. He back in his next match to redeem himself by pinning his opponent after a 1:15 of wrestling. This brought him into his final match of the day, deciding for third or fourth place. Sadly, he fell short by five points in the decision and took home fourth place.

Jarvis got off on the wrong foot losing his first match but came alive with back to back wins in the 125-weight group. He advanced to the consolation round after pinning his opponent just under two minutes. He officially grabbed fifth place after a 14-6 decision.

“One of the areas that we are strong in is our work ethic. These guys are working hard every day and we have great leadership from our upperclassmen,” coach Bergeron had to say about his team. The underclassmen brought out begin performances, starting with Cam McClure (Hudson NH) in the 149-weight group. He snagged his first win after he pinned his opponent four minutes into the match. Freshman Kyllian Twiss (Glocester RI) also picked up his first win by pinning as well.

Bergeron has big hopes for the team this year, saying “For the team, I would say a goal is to have someone place at every tournament and have a national qualifier. For me as a coach, my goal is to continue to help these guys improve every day.” This marks the first-year coaching at Plymouth State for Bergeron as he was hired in late August. “I couldn’t ask for a better job. I wrestled here for 4 years and love being back at Plymouth. I’m excited for the season and all the challenges that come with it.”

The team goes to Rhode Island College for a dual with the hosting team and Southern Maine. Matches are to start at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The Panthers will take a break and return back to the mats January 6^th after celebrating the holidays.