Wrestling pins Southern Maine; taken down by Trinity

HARTFORD, Conn.-The Coast Guard wrestling team split in a pair of dual matches at Trinity College, defeating Southern Maine and falling to host Trinity. Four Coast Guard wrestlers recorded sweeps and seven different wrestlers picked up wins on the evening.

Coast Guard wrestling won seven out of ten matches in knocking off Southern Maine 36-18 at Trinity College in the first of two matches. Coast Guard raced to a quick 21-0 lead before conceding a forfeit at 125 pounds, before winning the next two matches in building an insurmountable 33-6 lead.

For the Bears freshmen Tom Porzillo (133) at 1:22, James Hegge (141) at 4:25, and Marc Wagner (184) at 3:30 all picked up victories by pin. Juniors Luke Taylor (174) and Virgil Moreno (197) also pinned their opponents at 2:04 and 1:47, respectively, for Coast Guard.

Sophomore Vaughn Gehman picked up a 7-1 victory at 165 pounds while classmate Mark Howard won a 5-3 match at 285 pounds.

Two of Coast Guard's three losses came by virtue of forfeit, as they failed to enter wrestlers at 125 and 149 pounds.

In the second match of the day, Trinity defeated Coast Guard 31-19 as the Bantams won two home matches.

For Coast Guard Porzillo (133) and Hegge (141) both won their matches by forfeit.

To open the match Taylor (174) won a 6-0 decision, before Wagner (184) picked up a 6-5 win. The wins by Taylor and Wagner allowed Coast Guard to jump to a 7-0 lead but were unable to make any headway following three consecutive match wins by Trinity. The Bantams, following earlier setbacks, built a 16-7 lead and held on from there on the strength of a second forfeit win and two wins by decision to close out the match.

The Bears return to action on Sunday, January 27, at the New England Dual Championships, starting at 9:30 am, hosted by Johnson & Wales. Coast Guard returns for a home meet on Wednesday, February 6, as they host rival Merchant Marine at 7:00 pm.