Wrestling Bears Fall to Johnson & Wales, 22-15

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - In Pilgrim Wrestling League (PWL) action, the Bridgewater State College Bears dropped a 22-15 decision to visiting Johnson & Wales University this evening from the John J. Kelly Gymnasium in Bridgewater.

With the win, Johnson & Wales (ranked third in New England) improves its dual meet record to 3-0 on the season and 2-0 in the Pilgrim League. The fifth ranked Bears fall to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the PWL.

With the match starting at the 197-pound weight class, the Wildcats jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead as they took the first three bouts all by decision.  BSC battled back to tie the score with a 4-1 decision win by senior Eric Coughlan (Sandwich, MA) at 133 and a win by forfeit credited to freshman Greg Martin (Wantage, NJ) at 141.

With the score tied 9-9, Johnson & Wales took over winning the next four matches capped off by a 13-3 major decision victory by junior Jerome Owens (Mitchellville, MD) in the 174-pound weight class.  Owens' win at 174 clinched the match for the Wildcats as they led 22-9 with one bout to go.

BSC senior 184-pounder Jim Quinlan (Methuen, MA) wrapped things up with a win by fall in the final bout of the evening. Quinlan remains undefeated on the season as he is now 10-0 overall with 6 pins. Ranked seventh nationally in the 184-pound weight class, Quinlan now has 116 career victories as he trails only John Fralick as the Bears' all-time wins leader.  Fralick posted 119 victories between 2003 and 2007.

The Bears are back in action on Saturday as they take on New York University at 7 PM.  The match will be held at Danbury High School in Danbury, Connecticut.  Johnson & Wales travels to Oneonta State University on Sunday for a wrestling quad with Wilkes University, WPI and host Oneonta State.