Granby’s Cooper Fleming, a senior at Castleton University, won the NCAA Div. III Northeast Region title at 174 pounds Sunday in Maine to secure a bid to the national tournament in two weeks.
Five Connecticut natives earned berths to the NCAA Division III national championship meet at Sunday’s NCAA Division III Northeast Regional at Southern Maine University in Gorham along with five wrestlers from Coast Guard, two from Trinity College and one from Wesleyan.
The top three wrestlers in each of the 10 weight classes earned an invitational for the national championship meet in Roanoke, Virginia on March 10-11.
Granby’s Cooper Fleming, a senior at Castleton University in Vermont, won a regional championship at 174 pounds with his teammate Michael Angers of Tolland finishing third at 165. Stamford’s Chase Parrott (149) of Springfield and Foran-Milford’s Michael Ross (174) of Johnson & Wales also qualified with second place finishes. Fairfield’s Peter Kane of Williams College also earned a NCAA bid by taking third at 157 pounds.
David McCullough (184) and Coy Spooner (197) won Northeast Region titles for Coast Guard with Carl DiGiorgio (285) and Nate Fitt (141) finishing second. Chase Randall was third at 141. The defending champion Bears finished second behind Johnson & Wales, which won the regional title for the fifth time.
Trinity freshman Adam Schaeublin (133) won three of four matches to finish second while sophomore tri-captain Chris Perry finished third at 149 pounds. Wesleyan’s Marco Gaita (174) needed a win in overtime to finish third and secure his third berth to the national championships.
Fleming, who earned his 100th collegiate win earlier this month, led the way for Castleton, becoming the school’s first ever regional champion with a first-place finish in the 174-pound bracket. Fleming had a third-period pin against NYU’s Jason Geyer — the No. 7 ranked wrestler in the nation — sticking him at the 5:48 mark to earn a spot in the title bout against Ross, the Westhill-Stamford graduate who entered the tournament as the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the country.
Ross (10-1) was a medical forfeit in the championship bout, giving Fleming (31-8) the regional title.
Angers (30-10) earned his first-ever trip to the NCAA Division III nationals with a third place finish at 165.
He dropped a 10-1 major decision to Rhode Island College’s Nathan Lackman, who is ranked No. 1 in the country, in the semifinals before winning against Springfield’s Myles Leonard to earn a spot in the third-place match.
Angers went toe-to-toe with Trinity’s Kevin Lyskawa for seven minutes before the match went to overtime tied at 1-1. Angers struck first in the overtime period, netting a takedown for the win and the bid to the NCAA tournament.
Parrott (26-3) also earned his first-ever trip to the NCAA championships as he took second at 149 pounds. In the semifinals against nationally-ranked Colby Frost of Southern Maine, Parrott battled tough and scored a reversal and takedown in the third period to rally for a 4-2 decision. Parrott would later medically forfeit prior to the championship bout as earn regional runner-up honors.
Kane, who wrestled at Greens Farms Academy in Westport, was able to string together three consecutive wins to secure third place at 157 pounds, punching his ticket to Virginia.
After winning by a comfortable 10-point margin in his first match of the day, Kane (34-4) had to scrap out back-to-back narrow, low-scoring wins by decision against formidable opponents, besting Joe Chapman of Coast Guard, 3-1 in the consolation semifinal and Aaron Goldman of Wesleyan 4-1 in the third-place match.
Williams head coach Scott Honecker is very excited for his standout rookie, who will be stepping onto the biggest stage in two weeks’ time. “He’s been our best guy all year, and he really had to strap it up today,” Honecker said. “After a setback (Saturday), he was going to have to win three in a row to extend his season. He made some good adjustments to become more offensive when guys are trying to shut it down against him.”
Schaeublin, a freshman from Salem, Mass., won three of four matches to finish second at 133 for Trinity College and lead the Bantams to a sixth place finish.
Schaeublin (26-7) beat Wilson Gomes of Bridgewater State, 12-7 in the semifinals but lost to Gabriel Leo-Esparolini, of Johnson and Wales, in the finals, 12-7. Perry (27-7) lost to eventual champion Hayden Brown of Johnson and Wales, 4-2 in the semifinals but rebounded with a pair of consolation bracket wins, including a 3-1 win over Coast Guard’s A.J. Pagliarulo to finish third. Perry previously wrestled at Brunswick School in Greenwich.
Gaita (174) needed a dramatic overtime win to finish third and secure his berth to the NCAA tournament. He will be Wesleyan’s lone representative at the nationals.
Competing as the four-seed in his weight class, Gaita (32-4) pulled out a pair of tight, low-scoring decisions to advance to advance to the semifinal round. He started with a 5-4 win over Brayden Grim of Springfield before defeating Dante Gurbrod of Williams by a score of 4-3.
After falling to the top-seed Michael Ross of Johnson and Wales in the semifinals, Gaita responded with an 8-6 win over Danny Gibson of Coast Guard to advance to the crucial third place bout. Needing a win to secure his spot at Nationals, Gaita landed a takedown in the first overtime session to defeat Jason Geyer of NYU, 6-4.
NCAA Division III Northeast Regional
At Gorham, Maine
Team results — 1. Johnson & Wales 175½, 2. Coast Guard 145½, 3. Springfield College 112½, 4. Castleton University 110½, 5. New York University 99½, 6. Trinity 71½, t7. Southern Maine and Williams 60½, 9. Wesleyan 56½, 10. Roger Williams 48, 11. WPI 44, 12. Norwich 42½, 13. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 42, 14. Rhode Island College 39, 15. Bridgewater State 37, 16. Western New England 35½, 17. New England College 11, 18. Plymouth State 5½, 19. Hunter College 2½.
Individual results
125
Final: Joziah Fry (Johnson & Wales) dec. Jake Craig (Southern Maine) 9-6
3. Gavin Bradley (Castleton University) dec. Taisei Karachi (NYU) 7-2
5. David Yeh (Williams College) medical forfeit Joey Manginelli (Springfield)
7. Tanner Thatcher (WPI) dec. Jabari Pinkney (Norwich University) 5-4
133
Final: Gabriel Leo-Esparolini (Johnson & Wales) dec. Adam Schaeublin (Trinity) 12-7
3. Chase Randall (Coast Guard) dec. Wilson Gomes (Bridgewater State) 14-3
5. Gianni Manginelli (Springfield) dec. Michael Gonyea (Castleton University) 10-4
7. John Lafferty (New England College) pin Wesley Wydick (U.S. Merchant Marine Academy) 4:51
141
Final: Victor Perlleshi (Johnson & Wales) dec. Nate Fitt (Coast Guard) 8-4
3. James Rodriguez (Castleton University) dec. Joseph Parsons (Springfield) 7-2
5. Tyler Williams (Roger Williams) dec. Max Martinez (Wesleyan) 6-4
7. Joseph Lotruglio (Norwich University) tech fall Nicholas Kruczynski (NYU) 18-3, 6:57
149
Final: Hayden Brown (Johnson & Wales) medical forfeit over Chase Parrott (Springfield)
3. Chris Perry (Trinity) dec. A.J. Pagliarulo (Coast Guard) 3-1
5. Colby Frost (Southern Maine) pin Nicholas Roeger (Castleton University) 7:00
7. CJ Christopher Shea (Wesleyan) pin Matt Lucas (Roger Williams) 0:36
157
Final: Jake Deguire (Springfield) pin Tommy Dell`Aera (WPI) 1:01
3. Peter Kane (Williams College) dec. Aaron Goldman (Wesleyan) 4-1
5. Joe Chapman (Coast Guard) tech fall Jashon Holmes (Castleton University) 15-0, 5:22
7. William Hughes (Johnson & Wales) dec. Eric Zane (Rhode Island College) 18-5
165
Final: Nathan Lackman (Rhode Island College) dec. Cooper Pontelandolfo (NYU) 5-2
3. Michael Angers (Castleton University) dec. Kevin Lyskawa (Trinity) 3-1 OT
5. Myles Leonard (Springfield) pin Mario Barberio (WPI) 4:43
7. Patrick Wisniewski (Johnson & Wales) dec. Steven Rochard (Coast Guard) 7-6
174
Final: Cooper Fleming (Castleton University) medical forfeit over Michael Ross (Johnson & Wales)
3. Marco Gaita (Wesleyan) dec. Jason Geyer (NYU) 6-4 OT
5. Dante Gutbrod (Williams College) forfeit over Jayden Curley (Roger Williams)
7. Danny Gibson (Coast Guard) pin Adam Frost (Trinity) 1:49
184
Final: David McCullough (Coast Guard) dec. Edwin Morales (Bridgewater State) 5-4
3. Sampson Wilkins (Castleton University) dec. Scotti DuPont (NYU) 4-1
5. Cole Shaughnessy (Roger Williams) dec. William Smith (Williams) 3-0
7. Ryan DeVivo (Johnson & Wales) pin Daryl Cowley (U.S. Merchant Marine Academy) 3:57
197
Final: Coy Spooner (Coast Guard) dec. Dylan Harr (Johnson & Wales) 4-3
3. James Cruz (U.S. Merchant Marine Academy) dec. Darby McLaughlin (Western New England University) 4-0
5. Anders Klass (Trinity) pin Spencer Fetrow (Roger Williams) 4:23
7. Gabriel Rodrigues (NYU) dec. Haven Tatarek (Castleton University) 2-0
285
Final: Jake Peavey (Southern Maine) pin Carl DiGiorgio (Coast Guard) 0:29
3. Evan Anderson (NYU) dec. Michael Filieri (Springfield) 1-0
5. Mason Sprinkel (Norwich University) forfeit over Liridon Leka (Johnson & Wales)
7. Reid Garrison (U.S. Merchant Marine Academy) dec. Lucas Wilson-Wuestefeld (WPI) 12-4
Outstanding Wrestler – Nathan Lackman, Rhode Island College
Northeast Region Coach of the Year – Lonnie Morris, Johnson & Wales
Northeast Regional Tournament Coach – Lonnie Morris, Johnson & Wales
Staff Person of the Year – Brian Allen, Johnson & Wales
Most Pins, Least Time – Myles Leonard, Springfield College
2023 Northeast Region brackets and results (TrackWrestling.com)
Previous NCAA Division III Northeast Regional results
2022: 1. Coast Guard 166½, 2. Johnson & Wales 163½, 3. New York University 102, 4. Springfield 93, 5. Roger Williams (RI) 88½
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
