PLYMOUTH, N.H. -- Junior Jeff Esposti (Brookfield, CT) placed first in the 184-pound weight class to lead the Bridgewater State College wrestling team to a fourth place finish at the Plymouth State Invitational on Saturday. The Bears tallied 80.5 points for the tournament finishing behind tournament champion Wesleyan University (189.0), New York University (152.5) and host Plymouth (133).
Seeded first in the 184-pound weight class, Esposti went 4-0 including a pair of wins by fall. In the championship bout, he pinned number two seed Jermey Stuart of Wesleyan University at the 3:19 mark.
Freshman Greg Tanny (Hudson, MA) finished in third place in the 184-pound weight class, losing only to Esposti, 11-4, in the semifinals. Tanny went 4-1 at the tournament with a 16-0 tech. fall win as well as a pin. He defeated third-seeded Wheeler Brunschmid of SUNY-Morrisville, 9-4, in the third place bout.
Other highlights for the Bears included the performances of sophomore Zachary Bates (Leyden, MA) and freshman Ken Francis (New Bedford, MA). After losing in the quarterfinals, Bates came back to advance to the third place match where he lost to Sean Connors of New York University, 9-5. Bates, who was unseeded, finished 4-2 at the tournament with one pin. Francis, the number two seed in the 133-pound weight class, pinned the first opponent he faced and then picked up a 5-2 decision in the semifinals. In the championship bout, Francis dropped a tough 7-6 decision to top-seeded Bryan Conrad of Coast Guard.
The Bears will host a dual meet against New England Wrestling Association rival Coast Guard Academy next Wednesday, January 14th at 7 PM.