BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The WPI wrestling team withstood a late rally as the Engineers knocked off host Bridgewater State College, 29-22, in New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) action on Saturday afternoon at the John J. Kelly Gymnasium in Bridgewater.

WPI improves to 9-7 in dual meet action on the season, while Bridgewater falls to 2-11.

WPI jumped out to a 22-4 lead as the Engineers won four of the first five matches highlighted by pins from freshman Dan Metcalf (Westerly, RI) at 125 and sophomore Tyler Howe (Danbury, CT) at 157.

A pin by Bridgewater State sophomore Mike White (Canton, MA) at 165 closed the gap to 22-10, but WPI senior Larry Loomis (Plainfield, CT) earned a tough 3-2 decision over BSC's Zachary Bates (Leyden,  MA) to give the Engineers a 25-10 lead.  The bout featured the number five and number six seeded wrestlers in New England in the 174-pound weight class.

Back-to-back pins by junior Jeff Esposti (Brookfield, CT) and freshman Greg Tanny (Hudson, MA) at 184 and 197 respectively pulled the Bears to within three points with just the heavyweight bout remaining.  Unfortunately for the Bears, senior Scott Guzman (Acton, ME) earned an 11-2 major decision victory to give WPI the 29-22 win.

Freshman Ken Francis (New Bedford, MA) also won for the Bears as he breezed to a 13-0 major decision at 133 to stretch his person winning streak to 11 straight bouts. Francis is currently ranked fourth in New England in his weight class.

BSC will entertain Rhode Island College and Trinity College in a tri-match next Saturday beginning at 2 PM. WPI hosts a tri-match with Roger Williams University and Bryant University on Wednesday night starting at 6.