By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University wrestling team has a new look for the 2023-24 season.
The 29-man roster includes just seven returning wrestlers and has 16 freshmen and seven sophomores for what figures to be a building season for the future.
"We're definitely a very young team," said coach Frank Cammisa, who has been in charge of the program at his alma mater since 2014. "We graduated a bunch of seniors last year, probably about 50 percent of our starting lineup.
"We have a lot of young, talented kids that are really great kids to work with right now. Obviously, there's a difference between any high school level sport to college, so we're learning those adjustments now. But it's a great group."
BSU lost its lone dual meet of the season, falling to Southern Maine, and has taken part in the Roger Williams Invitational and the Doug Parker Invitational at Springfield College.
The Bears travel to Grantham, Pa., this week for the 52nd annual Messiah Petrofes Invitational on Friday and Saturday and will be in one more tournament prior to the semester break.
BSU was led a year ago by seniors Edwin Morales and Wilson Gomes, who capped stellar careers.
Morales qualified for his third straight NCAA Division 3 Championships and went 18-4 with 14 pins at 184 pounds. Now an assistant coach at BSU, Morales was 67-14 in his career.
Gomes went 31-8 at 133 pounds and received honorable mention on the All-New England Wrestling Association team. He had a career mark of 83-54.
Cammisa is looking for his young team to improve and grow throughout December, January and February prior to the NCAA Division 3 Northeast Regional in early March.
With so many first and second-year wrestlers, there is going to be a lot of adjusting to the collegiate level this season.
"It's a really nice luxury to go back to teaching good, solid technique and truly developing them," said Cammisa. "(The goal is) to make sure everybody is in the best place that they can be to be competitive with how deep the competition is in the Northeast Region.
"Some individuals, the goal is to get them to nationals and others it's to get them to place (in the regionals). We have such a young team that it's truly about retention and development."
Two of the returning wrestlers are co-captains Sean McCullough (North Reading, Mass.), who placed fourth at the Roger Williams Invitational at 197 pounds, and Michael Hopkins (Swampscott, Mass.), who was the lone winner against Southern Maine and took fourth at Roger Williams in the 165-pound class.
"They've done a tremendous job already," said Camissa. "The underclassmen have really connected well with them and listen to them. It's been very good to have.
"They both lost very close matches in the placing round at the Northeast Regionals, so they are right on the cusp."
Sophomore Malcolm Chrispin (Hyde Park, Mass.), a transfer who wrestles at 133. went 3-2 at the Doug Parker Invitational and defeated a seeded opponent during the tourney.
"He's definitely someone to look out for,'' said Cammisa. "He's had a couple of difficult losses to top tier guys in our region."
Picking up two wins each at the tourney in Springfield were junior Amauris Gomez (Lawrence, Mass.) at 174 pounds and freshman Ryan Donovan (Milford, Mass.) at 149 pounds.
In addition to McCullough, Hopkins and Gomez, the returning wrestlers are sophomores Sei Dolomengi (Brooklyn Park, Minn.), Hayden Garland (Saugus, Mass.), Alex Guaman Castro (Milford, Mass.) and Vincent Player (Duxbury, Mass.).
Cammisa has been pleased by what he's seen from a trio of freshmen in the early going, including heavyweight Michael Mastroianni (Milford, Mass.), 125-pounder Adam Distasio (Hopkinton, Mass.) and Donovan.
"They've been in tight matches, and it shows they are going to do well in their careers," said Cammisa.
Morales, fresh off his latest trip to the nationals, joins Fox Maxwell, who had 85 wins for BSU, on the coaching staff as they will help Cammisa guide a young group towards a bright future.
"That part is extraordinarily exciting," said Cammisa, "because we also have young coaches who are really hungry to help and really get these kids focused on the little techniques that make a difference in college wrestling. The better job we do this year makes our job easier next year and going forward."