BRISTOL, R.I. –
In their first meet of the season, Coast Guard wrestling started off hot with a first place finish in the Roger Williams Invitational. They won by a narrow eight points over the defending co-national champions Johnson & Wales University(188.5 - 180.5).
Leading the way for the Bears were four first place finishers: 149
Nathan Fitt(Branchville, NJ), 157
Jacob Woodburn(Greensboro, NC), 184
Gabriel Monroe(Kirkwood, NY), and 285
Carl DiGiorgio(Doylestown, PA). Fitt was dominant, he won his first bout by tech fall 19-3, then won by pin before defeating teammate
Nicholas Sanders(Fredericksburg, VA) with a trip to the finals on the line. In the finals, Fitt won by major decision 11-0.
Jacob Woodburn won by fall and two major decisions including in the finals. His most dramatic bout was a 1-0 decision victory in the bracket semifinals. 184 pounder
Gabriel Monroe won two bouts by major decision before the finals. In the finals, while leading 10-3, Monroe put the finishing touches on his first place finish with a pin just short of seven minutes in.
On his route to the top of the podium, 285
Carl DiGiorgio won three bouts by tech fall. In the finals, DiGiorgio faced off against JWU's heavyweight in a key battle for the final standings and Carl was dominant, coming out with a 12-3 major decision.
Along with the four first place finishers, Coast Guard had 14 other men on the podium.
Caden Stout(St Clairsville, OH) placed 2nd at 174 after a hard-fought 5-2 decision loss. Six men placed 3rd in their respective weights:
Nikko Beato(San Diego, CA) at 125,
Marvin Armistead(Reading, PA) at 133,
Dom Moyer(Milford, PA) at 141,
Thomas Rhodes(Last Forest Park, WA) at 165,
Brendan Raley(Annandale, VA) at 197, and
Lincoln Bibla(Mountain Top, PA) at 285.
141
Christian Belford(Edmond, OK), 157
Cael Finn(Simsbury, CT), 165
Landon Kearns(East Brunswick, NJ), and 184
Chase Mayes(Nolensville, TN) each finished fourth while 125
Kekoa Madayag(Rohnert Park, CA), 149
Mike Edwards(Glenpool, OK), and 149
Nicholas Sanders finished 5th, 5th, and 6th respectively.
After today's impressive performance, Coast Guard will face four formidable opponents next week at the JWU Duals. They will face perennial division III contenders Johnson & Wales, Castleton, and Stevens Tech, as well as Division II school West Liberty.
