PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Coast Guard Academy wrestling team showed up and showed out today at the annual NEWA Dual Championships. Coast Guard entered this season's conference tournament, hosted by Johnson & Wales, as the third seed and exited at third place.
The day opened with a 38-10 win over 14-seed New England College, who were better prepared this time around after being shut out by the Bears two weeks ago. The Pilgrims would eventually finish 14th after a defeat in their final match of the day at the hands of Bridgewater State, and the win for the Coast Guard set up a quarterfinal match-up against state rivals Wesleyan.
The Bears faced a tougher challenge in the sixth-seeded Cardinals, but the outcome would be a 28-12 win for Coast Guard. Wesleyan was leading 6-5 at one point, but a major decision win by
Nathan Fitt (Branchville, N.J.), NWCA's ninth-ranked wrestler in the 149-class, followed by a tech fall victory for
Jacob Woodburn (Greensboro, N.C.) quickly gave the Bears the upper hand. The Cardinals would wind up beating out Springfield College for sixth place.
Next up was a semifinal rematch with second seed no. 9 VTSU Castleton. The Bears were looking for a repeat of last season's semifinal victory, a tense 18-16 win, but this years' Castleton roster had other plans. The dual was tied at eight through the first four matches, but the Spartans would win the next five to put it away. Castleton would eventually finish as runner-ups to top seed Johnson & Wales, the newly minted top team in the most recent NWCA Tournament Poll.
That left the third-place match to finish off the day for the Bears, in which they faced no. 25 Williams College. The fifth-seeded Ephs were in the hole immediately after falling in the first four matches. A win in the 157-pound bout cut the deficit to to 15, with Coast Guard leading 19-4, but the Bears would win out to take the dual and third-place in the tournament by a score of 41-4.
2024 national champion
Chase Randall (Spokane, Wash.) and national qualifier
Carl DiGiorgio (Doylestown, Pa.) had excellent outings during the tournament, winning all each of their three respective matches. Randall, the NWCA's no. 1 in the 133-pound class, won each of his matches by tech fall while DiGiorgio also won by techs in his action against Wesleyan and Williams and by decision against Castleton.
The Bears will be back-in-action next Saturday, kicking off February against Stevens. The Ducks, who were receiving votes in early season versions of the NWCA poll, won last year's face-off in Hoboken, 18-15.
