Golden Bears Take Down New England College 38-9 on Alumni Appreciation Night

Arborio defeats No. 10 nationally ranked Diego Santiago (3-2 decision) at 125

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (December 7, 2018) – The Western New England University wrestling team rolled to a 38-9 victory over New England College on Friday night at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.

Prior to the start of the match, Western New England recognized the 30+ alumni in attendance, which included multiple former All-Americans and Downes Athletic Hall of Fame inductees.

In the first bout of the night, freshman Jeffrey Suschana (Somers, Conn.) defeated Hunter Nelson in a 5-0 decision at 165 to give the Golden Bears a 3-0 lead.

Juniors Ryan Guers (Orwigsburg, Pa.) and John Boyle (Rowley, Mass.) followed with consecutive pins at 174 and 184 over Gianni Oyadomari and Michael Tanguay, respectively, as Western New England increased its advantage to 15-0.

A technical fall victory for senior Josh Nelson (Bristol, Conn.) over Kristian Dawes at 197 made it 20-0, before the Pilgrims got on the board with Andrew Marshall's win by fall over freshman Akhmet Azizov (Chicopee, Mass.) in the heavyweight contest.

The most anticipated bout of the evening pitted Western New England sophomore Nick Arborio (Berlin, Conn.) against Diego Santiago at 125. Arborio entered the match ranked eighth in the regional rankings, while Santiago carried the No. 3 regional ranking and No. 10 ranking nationally. Arborio earned an impressive 3-2 decision as the Golden Bears extended their lead to 23-6.

New England College picked up its final win of the night at 133 as Jordan Rowe defeated junior Austin Roche (Southborough, Mass.) in a 20-14 decision at 133.

Sophomore Justin DeLucia (Holbrook, N.Y.) pinned Ryan Pro at 141, and freshman Andrew Piedrahita (Westford, Mass.) registered an 11-9 decision over Najee Hall at 149. Hall entered tonight's action ranked seventh regionally at 141.

Sophomore Ryan Monteiro (Wilbraham, Mass.) capped Western New England's resounding victory as he posted the Golden Bears' fifth pin of the night against Wilson Urgilez.

Up Next
Western New England (4-2) is off until next Saturday, when the Golden Bears take on nationally ranked Johnson & Wales and Bergen Community College at Roger Williams University.