PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Bridgewater State University wrestling team split a tri-match hosted by Rhode Island College on Friday evening at the RIC Recreation Center.

The Bears (2-9) dropped a tough 26-25 decision to Trinity College and earned the split with a 25-18 victory over the host Anchormen.

In the loss to Trinity, Bridgewater led 25-12 after winning five of the first seven bouts starting with an 11-1 major decision by senior Malcolm Chrispin (Hyde Park, Mass.) at 141. Freshman Avery Carl (Bridport, Vt.) notched his team-leading 15th pin of the season at 157 while juniors Cgari Bacote (Springfield, Mass.) and Christian Curley (Bridgewater, Mass.) also recorded wins by fall at 157 and 197, respectively. The Bears also received a win by decision from sophomore James Calabrese (Foxborough, Mass.) at 174.

The Bantams, however, rallied to win each of the final three bouts to take the match. A 20-3 (3:57) technical fall victory by sophomore heavyweight Emre Sensoy (Cape May Court House, N.J). jumpstarted the rally. Sensoy entered the matched ranked seventh in the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) individual rankings.

A pin by junior Alexander Schaeublin (Salem, Mass.), ranked eighth in the NEWA at 125, cut the deficit to 25-23 before senior Matthew Carrozza (Brookfield, Conn.) edged BSU freshman Ethan Buonanducci (Enfield, Conn.), 4-2, at 133 to give the Bantams the 26-25 comeback win. Carrozza was ranked sixth in the NEWA individual rankings while Buonanducci was fifth.

The Bears won six of ten bouts to earn the 25-18 triumph over RIC and the split of the tri-match.

Bridgewater opened the match with four straight wins including decisions by senior Sei Dolomengi (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) at 125 and freshman Kamel Dib (Lincoln, R.I.) at 149 as well as a forfeit victory by Buonanducci at 133 and a 10-0 major decision by Chrispin at 141.

Bacote checked in with a 5-2 decision at 165 to give the Bears a comfortable 19-4 lead. After the Anchormen closed the gap to 19-12, Curley secured the match victory with a win by fall at 197.

In upcoming action, several members of the team will compete on Sunday at the NEWA Futures Tournament hosted by the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

Notes: Curley now has 49 wins and 28 pins over his first three seasons with the Bears. He currently ranks eighth all-time in programs history with his 28 pins.