GRANTHAM, Pa. – Senior heavyweight Ricky Caruso (Waltham, Mass.) captured the heavyweight title to lead the Bridgewater State University wrestling team at the Messiah Petrofes Invitational on Saturday.

Caruso went 4-0 with two wins by fall during the two-day tournament.  He pinned Michael Shannon of Wilkes in the tournament semifinals on Saturday and then earned a 6-2 decision over William Fletcher of Wilkes in the championship bout.  Caruso had set the school record for fastest fall on Friday by pinning Christian Lighten of Springfield in just seven seconds to advance to the semifinals. He also posted a 9-5 first round decision over Luke Weaver of host Messiah.

Freshman Paul Sughrue (Methuen, Mass.) added a sixth-place finish for the Bears at 133, while junior Matthew Armano (Methuen, Mass.) placed seventh in the 157-pound weight class and sophomore Matthew Small (Foxborough, Mass.) finished eighth competing out of the 197-pound weight class.

After winning his first two bouts on Friday, Sughrue dropped a tough 15-13 decision to Jeremy Border of Mount Union in the tournament semifinals.  He then fell to Kyle Coblentz of Messiah, 13-5, in the consolation semis and lost by medical forfeit in the fifth-place match.

Armano went 3-2 at the tournament, including a 12-5 win over Ben Wise of Messiah in the eight-place match.  Small posted a 2-3 mark with both of his victories coming on Friday including a 4-2 decision Andrew Tullo over of Muhlenburg to advance to the consolation quarterfinals. Small fell to Camden Stoops of Gettysburg, 7-2, in the eight-place match.

The Bears finished in seventh place out of nine schools in the team standings with 64.5 points.  Host Messiah won the team title with 183 points, followed by Wilkes (165.5 pts) in second place and Mount Union (143.5 pts.) in third.

The BSU wrestling team returns to the mat on Wednesday night when the Bears host Johnson and Wales University in a dual meet beginning at six.