Wrestling Falls to Southern Maine, 25-24

GORHAM, Maine -- The University of Southern Maine Huskies rallied for a 25-24 win over the Bridgewater State University Bears in a wrestling dual meet Saturday afternoon at the Costello Sports Complex.

Competing in their season-opening match, the Huskies start their 2015-2016 campaign at 1-0.  Bridgewater State drops its fourth straight match to fall to 0-4. It is the second straight match that the Bears have lost by one point.

 The Huskies' trailed Bridgewater State 18-0 after the first three bouts. Freshman Dylan Nuttall (Levittown, Pa.) pinned Husky freshman Casey Abshire (Lowell, Mass.) in 4:04 to score the Bears' first points of the game. BSU took the next two matches with a win by forfeit and a pin by rookie Andrew Valdina (Dracut, Mass.) at 141.

Southern Maine got on the board with a 10-2 major decision victory at 149 pounds by rookie Brendan Weir (Easthampton, Mass.). Husky junior captain Daniel Del Gallo (Gardiner, Maine), ranked fifth nationally at 149 pounds, wrestled up a class at 157 made it back-to-back wins, earning a win by fall in 4:27 to make the score 18-10 in favor of the Bears.

The Huskies continued to roll in the 165 and 174 pound matches to take their first lead of the match 19-18. Junior captain CJ Luth (Milford, Conn.) opened his season with a dominating 17-0 technical fall win at 165, while junior Aaron Weiss (East Machias, Maine) earned a 12-2 major decision at 174.

Sophomore Bobby Gasdia (Rockland, Mass.) and junior Stephen Heaslip (Dedham, Mass.) claimed victories for the Bears at 184 and 197, respectively. Gasdia posted a 12-5 decision, while Heaslip powered his way to an 11-4 win to put Bridgewater State back out in front, 24-19, with one bout remaining.

That would set the stage for the freshman heavyweight Mike Risti (Limerick, Maine) who scored a takedown and a near fall just seconds into the bout before securing the necessary six points for victory with a pin at the 1:25 mark of the first period.

Southern Maine returns to action next weekend at the East Stroudsburg University Open on Sunday, November 15.  Weigh Ins begin at 7:00 a.m.