SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University wrestling team went 1-3 to finish in 14th place at the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Dual Meet Tournament hosted by Springfield College on Sunday at the SC Field House.
Seeded 14th at the meet, Bridgewater State dropped a 43-0 decision to #3 Coast Guard Academy followed by a 26-18 setback to #11 Rhode Island College. After posting a 38-14 victory over #15 New England College, the Bears wrapped up the tournament with a 25-22 loss to #13 Norwich University.
Seniors Wilson Gomes (Fogo, Cape Verde) and Edwin Morales (Philadelphia, Pa.), and freshman Jonathan Davila (Andover, Mass.) each went 3-1 on the day to lead the way for Bridgewater State.
Gomes (21-5) entered the tournament ranked third in the NEWA Individual Rankings for the 133-pound weight class. He dropped a tough 8-6 overtime decision to #2 Chase Randall of Coast Guard before bouncing back with a win by fall (2:23) over RIC's Jacob Duvall. Gomes then edged #7 John Lafferty of New England College, 13-12, and capped off the tournament witrh a decisive 18-3 technical fall victory over Dylan King of Norwich.
Gomes, who garnered All-Tournament honors for the Bears, now has 73 victories in his career as he tied Anthony D'Amico (2004-2007) for 15th place on the Bears' all-time wins list.
Morales (6-1) recorded three pins on the day with all three falls coming in the first period. Ranked second out of the 184-pound weight class in the NEWA rankings, Morales' lone setback was a tough 5-2 decision to #3 David McCullough of Coast Guard. His three pins came against Matt Myers of RIC, Kyle Gora of New England College, and Zachary Vasquez of Norwich.
Morales is now 55-11 in three seasons at Bridgewater State.
The 149-pound Davila (14-7) dropped a close 4-0 decision to Coast Guard's Noah Caskey to open the day. Caskey entered the tournament third in the NEWA 149-pound rankings. Following a 7-4 win against RIC's Jensen Offerman, Davila cruised to back-to-back technical fall victories (16-0 and 18-0) over Cole Patterson of New England College and Ethan Tanner of Norwich.
Senior heavyweight Ryan Higgins (Billerica, Mass.), sophomore 165-pounder Michael Hopkins (Swampscott, Mass.) and freshman 174-pounder Vincent Player (Duxbury, Mass.) all went 2-2 on the day.
Prior to the start of the final round, Bears' head coach Frank Cammisa was honored as part of the 2023 NEWA Hall of Fame class. Cammisa, a 2011 Bridgewater State graduate, is the only four-time NCAA championships qualifier in BSU wrestling history.
In upcoming action, the Bears (1-7) travel to Roger Williams University on Saturday for a tri-match with the host Hawks and Plymouth State University.
