Boyle & Monteiro Set to Represent Golden Bears at NCAA DIII Championships
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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 7, 2019) – Junior John Boyle (Rowley, Mass.) and sophomore Ryan Monteiro (Wilbraham, Mass.) will represent the Western New England University wrestling team at the NCAA Division III Championships on Friday and Saturday at the Berglund Center in Roanoke, Virginia.
Boyle and Monteiro are among a total of 180 wrestlers from six regional tournaments across the country, 18 per weight class, that will compete for individual national championships in 10 weight classes, along with a team national title.
How They Got Here
Boyle and Monteiro earned their spots in the NCAA Championships with their runner-up finishes in the 184 and 157-pound weight classes, respectively, two weekends ago (February 23-24) at the NCAA Northeast Regional in Providence, R.I.
Both student-athletes went 2-0 on the opening day of regional action to secure their semifinal berths.
Boyle defeated Dan Wensley (WPI) in a 6-3 decision to clinch his second straight trip to the national tournament, before falling to eventual regional champion Khamri Thomas (JWU) in the title bout.
Monteiro reached the NCAA Championships for the first time in his career with a 3-1 regional semifinal victory over Christian Gosch (Coast Guard), but he dropped a close 4-3 decision to Tyler Marsh (WPI) in the final.
Season Review
Boyle enters the NCAA Championships seeded fourth at 184 pounds with a 29-6 record. His regular season was highlighted by a first-place finish at Springfield College's Doug Parker Invitational (November 17), and runner-up efforts at the Ithaca Invitational (November 2-3), Williams Open (January 5) and Will Abele Invitational (January 12).
Monteiro brings a 24-4 record into his NCAA Tourney debut. His top performances during the regular season came at the Ithaca Invitational (3rd place) and the Doug Parker Invitational (5th place).
Western New England at the NCAA Championships
Western New England is making its 21st all-time team appearance at the NCAA Championships. The Golden Bears have two representatives for the first time in over two decades, when Bryan Brunk and Abdul Shabazz qualified at the conclusion of the 1997-98 campaign. Brunk is now the head wrestling coach at Messiah (Pa.) College.
Boyle became the program's ninth All-American with his fourth-place finish as a sophomore last season at the NCAA Championships in Cleveland, Ohio. He is looking to become the fourth Golden Bear to earn All-America honors on multiple occasions. Gary Solomon accomplished the feat four times, while Brian Solomon and two-time Olympian Rodney Smith were All-Americans twice.
Weekend Schedule
Session I begins on Friday morning at 11 a.m. Boyle will face Rexx Hallyburton of Washington & Lee, with the winner advancing to take on the winner of the Paul Detwiler (Coast Guard)/Josh Edel (Coe) matchup during Friday night's session, which starts at 6 p.m.
Monteiro awaits the winner of sixth-seeded Bradan Birt (Milliken)/Hunter Neely (Washington & Jefferson) for his opening bout on Friday morning. With a win, Monteiro will advance to face the winner of the Dylan Dwyer (NYU)/Kaidon Winters (RIT) matchup.
Friday evening's quarterfinal winners guarantee themselves All-America honors and a spot in Saturday morning's semifinal round. Saturday's Session III action starts at 10 a.m., with Session IV (Finals) to follow on Saturday night at 6 p.m.
