Wrestling Places Ninth at RWU Invitational

BRISTOL, R.I. -- Freshman Paul Sughrue (Methuen, Mass.), senior Ricky Caruso (Waltham, Mass.) and junior Matthew Armano (Methuen, Mass.) all placed in their respective weight classes to lead the Bridgewater State University wrestling team to a ninth place finish at the Roger Williams Invitational on Saturday.

Bridgewater posted a score of 62.5 points with Sughrue, Caruso and Armano accounting for 46.5 of those.  The Bears had a marked improvement from a season ago when they posted 28.5 points at the tournament in 2012.  Messiah College won the team title with 153.0 points followed by Johnson & Wales University (149.0 pts.) and SUNY Cortland (146.0 pts.).

Sughrue placed second in the 133-pound weight class as he earned a first period pin (1:17) over Chris Cataldo of Cortland followed by back-to-back decisions to reach the championship match.  Sughrue dropped a 16-2 major decision to Sam Shames of MIT in the title bout.

Caruso finished third in the heavyweight class as he posted a record of 5-1.  He opened the meet with a 12-5 decision over his opponent from Messiah and then recorded back-to-back pins to reach the semifinals.  Caruso dropped a 3-1 decision to Lance Moore of Cortland before rebounding with a 3-2 decision over of Kyle Foster of Roger Williams followed by an 8-4 decision over Charles Jones of Messiah in the third-place match.

Armano went 5-2 to finish fifth in the 157-pound weight class.  He opened the tournament with a win by fall over Wesleyan's Keonmin Hwang followed by an 11-2 major decision victory over Steve Kidwell of Coast Guard. Armano dropped a 7-4 decision to Francisco Colom of host Roger Williams in the quarterfinal round.  In the consolation bracket, Armano would go on to pin James Ondris of Cortland in the fifth-place match.

Junior Andrew Gauthier (Lowell, Mass.) posted a 3-2 mark with a pin out of the 125-pound weight class, while freshman Kevin Pappadopoulos (Quincy, Mass.) went 2-2 with a pin at 141.

Next Saturday, the Bears will compete at the Doug Parker Invitational hosted by Springfield College.