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Coast Guard wins first NCAA Div. 3 Northeast Regional championship

With four individual champions, Coast Guard won their first NCAA Div. 3 Northeast Regional championship Sunday in Springfield. (Photo courtesy Coast Guard Sports Information)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Feb. 27, 2022 – No. 5 Coast Guard won their first NCAA Division III Northeast Regional championship on Sunday with a three-point win over defending champion Johnson & Wales and had five wrestlers qualify for the upcoming NCAA Division III national championships on March 11-12 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Four other wrestlers with state ties qualified for the national championship meet by finishing in the top three of their respective weight class. Johnson & Wale’s Michael Ross (Stratford/Foran High), Western New England’s Nicholas Arborio (Berlin), Williams’ Joseph Rossetti (Glastonbury) and Castleton’s Cooper Fleming (Granby) each qualified.

Coast Guard’s Paul Detwiler won the 184 pound championship and was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler with four wins and three pins. Tony Ulazek prevailed at 149 pounds and had the most pins in the tournament – three in 29 seconds, 1:04 and 5:04.

Teammates Phil Rogers (165) and Coy Spooner (197) also won Northeast Regional titles while Joe Chapman (157) finished third to earn a spot at the NCAA championships. All 10 wrestlers for the Bears scored and placed at least sixth or higher in their weight classes.

Coast Guard scored 166½ points to beat Johnson & Wales, which was second with 163½ points. Johnson & Wales had won the previous four Northeast Regional championships. New York University was a distant third with 104 points.

Coast Guard’s Paul Detwiler earned his second NCAA Div. 3 berth Sunday, winning the title at 184 pounds. Detwiler was named the outstanding wrestler of the tournament. (Photo courtesy Coast Guard Sports Information).

Detwiler pinned NYU’s Jason Geyer in 4:55 to win a title, earn his second NCAA tournament appearance and improve to 19-0 on the season. Ulaszek pinned Kyle Merritt of Norwich University 29 seconds. He was 5-0 in the tournament with four pins to improve to 18-0 on the year.

Rogers (9-0) beat Cooper Pontelandolfo from NYU, 5-0, in the championship match and is now 9-0 season. Rogers had a pair of pins over the weekend. Spooner beat Travis Arata of Roger Williams, 9-1, in the final and improve to 24-0 on the season.

Rogers, Spooner, Ulaszek and Chapman will each be making their first NCAA tournament appearances.

Arborio, who won the Northeast Region title in 2020, dropped a 7-6 to Justin Lopez of Johnson & Wales, who had two takedowns in the final minute. Arborio slips to 17-3 on the year.

Rossetti dropped a 4-2 decision to Johnson & Wales’ Hayden Brown, who got a reversal with 1:03 remaining and another point for riding time to win the regional title at 141 pounds.

Ross, the Stratford resident who wrestled at Foran in high school, won a regional title at 174 pounds. with a 17-1 technical fall over Fleming, the senior from Granby. Ross improved to 35-0 on the year.

Fleming’s earned a spot in the final and a NCAA tournament berth with an upset victory over the No. 11 Dominick Esposito of Merchant Marine in a thrilling decision, 7-6 in the semifinals.

Fleming trailed 2-1 after the first period and 4-3 after the second period, but notched a takedown and a two-point near fall to take a 7-4 lead. An escape by Esposito and a riding time bonus point weren’t enough for Esposito to erase the deficit.

Fleming used a takedown with 1:06 left in the match in a 6-4 win over Wesleyan’s Marco Gaita in the quarterfinals.


2022 NCAA Division III Northeast Regional
At Springfield, MA
Team results – 1. Coast Guard 166½, 2. Johnson & Wales-Providence RI 163½, 3. New York University 102, 4. Springfield College 93, 5. Roger Williams (RI) 88½, 6. Castleton University (VT) 86½, 7. Williams 64, 8. Southern Maine 59½, 9. Bridgewater State (MA)  and Western New England University-Springfield MA 46, 11. Wesleyan 45, 12. Merchant Marine Academy (NY) 44½, 13. Trinity 44, 14. Rhode Island College 41½, 15. Norwich University (VT) 38,  16. New England College (NH) 34, 17. WPI 13½, 18. Plymouth State 4, 19. Hunter College (NY) 2
Individual results
125 — Final: Justin Lopez (Johnson & Wales) dec. Nicholas Arborio (Western New England University) 7-6; 3. Joey Manginelli (Springfield) dec. Christopher DeRosa (New England College) 5-2; 5. Fred Luchs (Rhode Island College) pin David Yeh (Williams College) 0:48; 7. Wilson Gomes (Bridgewater State) pin Allan Beato (Coast Guard) 6:39

133 — Final: Kyle Kaiser (Roger Williams) dec. Diego Santiago (New England College) 4-0; 3. Gabriel Leo-Esparolini (Johnson & Wales) dec. Gianni Manginelli (Springfield) 5-4; 5. Michael Gonyea (Castleton University) medical forfeit over Chase Randall (Coast Guard); 7. Nicholas Kruczynski (New York University) dec. Ethan Ford (Southern Maine) 11-8

141 — Final: Hayden Brown (Johnson & Wales) dec. Joseph Rossetti (Williams College) 4-3; 3. James Rodriguez (Castleton University) dec. Chris Perry (Trinity) 7-4; 5. Chris Trelli (Springfield) dec. Caden Mareno (Coast Guard) 8-1; 7. Peter Tringali (Roger Williams) dec. Edward Pinc (Merchant Marine) 6-0

149 – Final: Tony Ulaszek (Coast Guard) pin Kyle Merritt (Norwich University) 0:29; 3. Colby Frost (Southern Maine) dec. Gabriel McDaniel (Johnson & Wales) 12-7; 5. Chase Parrott (Springfield) dec. Nicholas Roeger (Castleton University) 6-5; 7. Ben Bariso (Roger Williams) pin Jack Murphy (Williams College) 4:54

157 – Final: Nathan Lackman (Rhode Island College) dec. Trent Furman (New York University) 4-0; 3. Joe Chapman (Coast Guard) dec. Aaron Goldman (Wesleyan) 4-1; 5. Jake Deguire (Springfield) pin Albert Xing (Williams College) 0:51; 7. Luke Pinzino (Western New England University) dec. Darius Joyce (Johnson & Wales) 15-4

165 — Final: Philip Rogers (Coast Guard) dec. Cooper Pontelandolfo (New York University) 5-0; 3. Fox Maxwell (Bridgewater State) dec. Scott DeFex (Johnson & Wales) 4-2; 5. Michael Angers (Castleton University) dec. Kevin Lyskawa (Trinity) 4-2 OT; 7. Jack Reusing (Wesleyan) pin Jacob Harry (Springfield) 2:25

174 – Final: Michael Ross (Johnson & Wales) tech fall Cooper Fleming (Castleton University) 17-1, 5:48; 3. Marco Gaita (Wesleyan) dec. Dante Gutbrod (Williams College) 8-5; 5. Dominick Esposito (Merchant Marine) pin David McCullough (Coast Guard) 1:55; 7. Izaake Zuckerman (New York University) injury default over Daniel Curran (Norwich University) 5:11

184 — Final: Paul Detwiler (Coast Guard) pin Jason Geyer (New York University) 4:55; 3. Edwin Morales (Bridgewater State) dec. Cole Shaughnessy (Roger Williams) 10-2; 5. Ryan DeVivo (Johnson & Wales) pin Anders Klass (Trinity) 1:48; 7. William Sims (Merchant Marine Academy) dec. Aidan Whitis (Southern Maine) 11-1

197 – Final:  Coy Spooner (Coast Guard) dec. Travis Arata (Roger Williams) 9-1; 3. Matthew Kelly (New York University) dec. Tommy Wrzesien (Johnson & Wales) 10-2; 5. Chance LaPier (Castleton University) dec. Darby McLaughlin (Western New England University) 12-4; 7. Sam Ware (Springfield) pin Anthony Mears (Southern Maine) 0:31

285 — Final: Liridon Leka (Johnson & Wales) dec. Jake Peavey (Southern Maine) 7-6; 3. Addison Boisvert (Roger Williams) dec. Will Ortman (New York University) 4-2, 2 OT; 5. Michael Filieri (Springfield) dec. Timothy Ganuncio (Coast Guard) 2-0; 7. Shea Garand (Castleton University) pin Frances Boahen (New England College) 1:44
Outstanding wrestler: Paul Detwiler, Coast Guard (184)
Coach of the year: Kevin Bratland, Coast Guard; Assistant coach of the year: Dylan Foley, Coast Guard
2022 NCAA Northeast Regional (results, brackets) via TrackWrestling.com

NCAA Division III Northeast Regional
Previous results
2021: Cancelled, COVID-19 pandemic
2020: 1. Johnson & Wales 168, 2. Coast Guard 122½, 3. New York University 122, 4. Springfield 112, 5. Roger Williams 86
2019: 1. Johnson & Wales 187, 2. Coast Guard 120, 3. Roger Williams 117, 4. WPI 84, 5. Castleton State 83½
2018:
 1. Johnson & Wales 156½, 2. WPI 92½, 3. Wesleyan 91½, 4. New York University 89, 5. Southern Maine 88
2017: 1. Johnson & Wales 171½, 2. Ithaca College 139½, 3. Cortland (NY) State 111½, 4. Roger Williams 95, 5. Oneonta (NY) State 72½
2016: 1. Itacha 144, 2. Roger Williams 136½, 3. Cortland (NY) State 119, 4. Johnson & Wales 104½, 5. Williams 99½
2015: 1. Ithaca 128½; 2. Johnson and Wales 106; 3. Williams 101; 4. Roger Williams and Cortland State (State University of New York at Cortland) 96
2014: 1. Cortland State 128; 2. Ithaca 126; 3. Johnson & Wales 105½; 4. Roger Williams 97½; 5. Williams 78½
2013: 1. Cortland State 133½, 2. Springfield 123, 3. Itacha 96, 4. Wesleyan 91, 5. Johnson & Wales 78

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of Connecticut Wrestling Online. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.

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