NORTHEAST REGIONAL
If you enjoy things being up in the air & an assortment of wrestlers having an opportunity advance to the NCAA DIII championships, then this is the Regional for you. From where I sit, very little is written in stone & a top three finish is possible out of quite a few wrestlers at quite a few weight classes. Let's take a look.
On Paper it would seem most logical that we are to see a Northeast Regional final of Joey Manginelli of Springfield & Nick Arborio of Western New England. That very well could be a rematch that we do see. (Manginelli won 6-3, the last the two met.) However, it should be noted that New England College's Chris Derosa owns a 10-8 victory over Arborio & that Justin Lopez of Johnson & Wales has given Manginelli a couple of close matches in 4-3 & 5-2 losses. He also lost to him 11-3 though too & for the record, lost to Arborio 9-2. Lopez and Derosa have yet to meet. All three of these guys are very talented. It'll be interesting to see who ends up being the odd man out.
Again another weight class where what should happen on paper might not necessarily happen on the mat. Kyle Kaiser of Roger Williams will take the top seed here. He has two victories over Gabriel Leo-Esparolini of Johnson & Wales 5-1 & 7-3. What sticks out most though is a tight 2-1 victory over Diego Santiago of New England College, who has given him close matches in the past.
Chase Randall of the United States Coast Guard seems another candidate for possible Northeast Regional Champion/runner-up, but like Kaiser, one of his closest matches of the season has been with Santiago, who took him to a 3-2 match. Randall also owns a 13-8 victory over Leo-Esparolini.
Another candidate for a top three qualification is Castleton's Michael Gonyea. He's split with Leo-Esparolini winning by fall at 3:57 & losing a 6-4 sudden victory match. He took Santiago to a 2-1 match.
Scotty Richter of Williams defeated Gonyea 10-2, so that certainly also makes him a contender for NCAA DIII qualification. Santiago defeated Richter 4-2.
As you can see we have six quality wrestlers all more than capable of being top three in the Northeast Regional when it is all said and done. QF's on through, this will be an interesting bracket.
Both Johnson & Wales' Hayden Brown & Springfield's Chris Trelli were NCAA DIII qualifiers in 2020. Is that the final we'll see at this year's Northeast Regional? It's a real possibility. Brown took it to Trelli 14-2 in one match, yet also lost to him 5-4. Seeding could make a difference here as Brown owns a 1:32 fall over Chris Perry of Trinity, who defeated Trelli 5-2.
The other wrestler of note in this bracket is James Rodriguez of Castleton. He owns a 6-3 match over Perry, and has kept it close with both Trelli & Brown. Vs Trelli he dropped a 3-0 match & Vs Brown although he did lose once by an 8-2 decision, he's given him 3-0, 2-0 and 4-3 matches.
Four talented grapplers and only three get to go.
The United States Coast Guard's Tony Ulaszek will be our #1 seed here, but again, I wouldn't call it a lock or a guarantee. Both Chase Parrott of Springfield in a 2-1 match & Anthony Chavez of NYU in a 3-2 match have given him some close ones.
Evan Fidelibus of New England College was an NCAA DIII qualifier in 2020. He'll have his work cut out for him if he wants to make it back again in 2022. Thus far he has a nice 6-5 victory over Colby Frost of Southern Maine, as he has split with Ben Bariso of Roger Williams. Dropping a 13-5 major decision, he defeated Bariso 15-8. He's also dropped a 5-1 decision to Parrott.
As to Bariso, he has a 9-7 sudden victory over Frost & an 11-5 decision over Chavez going for him. Marks against him include a 6-1 loss to Parrott & then 11-2 & 7-4 losses to Gabriel McDaniel of Johnson & Wales. Chavez has a -4 victory over McDaniel.
Good luck.
You can lay your money down on Nathan Lackman of Rhode Island College, as he should win a Northeast Regional Title without much problem. Tus far he owns a 7-1 victory over Trent Furman of NYU & a 3:35 fall over Logan Dubuque of Castleton.
The question is, who joins him? Who takes silver & who takes bronze?
Jacob Deguire of Springfield? He's split with Dubuque winning a 10-3 decision and dropping a 4-1 decision.
Another name to look at here is Williams' Albert Xing who owns a 5-1 victory over Dubuque.
Only two spots remaining with Lackman leading the way & four guys who want those spots.
2021 NWCA All American Phil Rogers of the United States Coast Guard will be our forerunner for the Northeast Regional title. He owns a 5-1 victory over plausible finalist Cooper Pontelandolfo of NYU, as well as a 16-0 technical fall over Michael Angers of Castleton.
The real question here at 165 lbs, is who will take 3rd? I think it could be be one of four wrestlers, Angers being one of them. He owns a 6-5 victory over Brenden Kiernan of Williams. Kevin Lyskawa of Trinity owns a 5-4 victory over Kiernan. Robert Garcia of Johnson & Wales owns a 5-4 victory over Angers. If history repeats itself, whoever takes 3rd here, will most likely do so with many hard fought, close matches.
Undefeated on the season, the closest match that Michael Ross of Johnson & Wales has had with his competition in the Northeast Regional has been a 5-2 match with Jason Geyer of NYU. He owns a 16-0 technical fall over Dominick Esposito of USMMA.
Speaking of Esposito, an NCAA DIII qualifier in 2020, I'm not even 100% positive if he'll be the starter for the USMMA at this tournament. Thus far he's split with teammate Draygan Colonese, winning a 2-0 match but dropping a 7-2 match. He has a 7-3 loss to Geyer as well.
Another candidate for possible NCAA DIII qualification & a top three finish is Marco Gaita of Wesleyan, who also qualified in 2020. He owns a 7-0 victory over Daniel Curran of Norwich, but dropped a 10-6 decision to Dante Gutbrod of Williams. To make matters even more confusing, Curran pinned Gutbroad in 6:52.
We have a bit of parity going on at 174 lbs & it'll be interesting to see how this bracket ends up being seeded. In wrestling we often like to romanticize that seeds don't matter, but when you have a 19 man bracket, & only the top 3 get to go to the NCAA DIII's, you often find out that seeds actually do matter. In fact, they matter a lot. Upsets always have and will continue to happen, but some paths are certainly easier than others.
Three time NCAA DIII qualifier, 2021 NWCA runner-up, Paul Detwiler of the United States Coast Guard is arguably the surest bet for a Northeast Regional Champion there is. His likely opponent in the finals is Ryan DeVivo of Johnson & Wales, who he's already majored 20-7. He also owns three impressive wins over Edwin Morales, a likely candidate for 3rd place, 13-8, 13-4 & 9-3.
DeVivo as mentioned, a candidate to meet Detwiler in the finals owns a 12-4 victory over Morales, as well as a 5-2 decision over Cole Shaughnessy of Roger Williams & a 6:12 fall over Izaake Zukerman of NYU.
Shaughnessy owns a 9-3 victory over Zuckerman & Morales owns a 7-5 sudden victory over Shaughnessy.
Zuckerman, a 2020 NCAA DIII qualifier has his work cut out for him if he wants to make another appearance at teh national tournament.
This will be a really fun weight class. You have Coy Spooner of the United States Coast Guard the likely #1 seed. Then we have Darby McLaughlin of Western New England as Chance Lapier of Castleton. Better's chance, I'd give Lapier the #2 seed and McLaughlin the #3 seed, but switch them around, either way, it's our likely semi-final match. Lapier as of now owns a 5-2 decision over McLaughlin. Now, Spooner does own a 14-0 decision over Lapier, but the last time the two met it was a very close 8-6 decision. Then when Spooner and McLaughlin met, that too was a very close decision, a 2-1 decision in fact.
Those are the three I see placing 1st, 2nd, 3rd & going to the NCAA DIII national tournament, but with that said, I dare not overlook Travis Arata of Roger Williams and his capabilities.
The one thing I'm very confident about when it comes to the Northeast Regional at HWT is the one of our qualifiers will be Liridon Leka of Johnson & Wales. An 18-4 major decision as well as a 1:45 fall over Shea Garand of Castleton & two 6-2 decisions over Addison Boisvert of Roger Williams. The one thing that is not guaranteed though, is that he'll win a title. I do think that Jake Peavey of Southern Maine, who's wrestled him to 8-5 & 4-3 decisions thus far will give him a run for his money.
As to Peavey he also owns a 2:38 fall, a 8-0 major decision and a 7-2 decision over Garand. He's pinned Tommy Goodwin of Williams in 2:31 & he's beaten Boisvert twice once by fall in 2:00 & by 9-1 major decision.
Boisvert owns a 7-0 decision over Garand as well as a6-2 decision over Goodwin.
Garand owns a 9-3 decision over Goodwin.
Then last but not least there is Jacob Raboy of Hunter, who owns a 13-7 decision over Goodwin.
The final I see here is betwen Leka and Peavey, with an all out War among the rest listed for 3rd.
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This is a fun regional to follow for a couple of different reasons. While Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York are still represented strong, it's fun to write about kids from the "other" eastern states of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, ect. It's also fun to see how well the USCG is doing this seaso & that the USMMA has some good wrestlers too. The smaller military schools often get over shadowed by Air Force, Navy, Army, The Citadel & the other "bigger" schools. I realize that Johnnythompsonnum1 didn't get as much coverage done for DIII this year as I hoped to. I'm hoping that time, $$ & resources will be more plentiful for me next season & in the years to come. It's been brought to my attention that JT#1 is heavy in DI coverage. I'm trying to expand that more, but as a one man show, it's a challenge. I hope you have enjoyed what DIII coverage I have been able to do this season.
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| 125 lbs |
On Paper it would seem most logical that we are to see a Northeast Regional final of Joey Manginelli of Springfield & Nick Arborio of Western New England. That very well could be a rematch that we do see. (Manginelli won 6-3, the last the two met.) However, it should be noted that New England College's Chris Derosa owns a 10-8 victory over Arborio & that Justin Lopez of Johnson & Wales has given Manginelli a couple of close matches in 4-3 & 5-2 losses. He also lost to him 11-3 though too & for the record, lost to Arborio 9-2. Lopez and Derosa have yet to meet. All three of these guys are very talented. It'll be interesting to see who ends up being the odd man out.
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| 133 lbs |
Again another weight class where what should happen on paper might not necessarily happen on the mat. Kyle Kaiser of Roger Williams will take the top seed here. He has two victories over Gabriel Leo-Esparolini of Johnson & Wales 5-1 & 7-3. What sticks out most though is a tight 2-1 victory over Diego Santiago of New England College, who has given him close matches in the past.
Chase Randall of the United States Coast Guard seems another candidate for possible Northeast Regional Champion/runner-up, but like Kaiser, one of his closest matches of the season has been with Santiago, who took him to a 3-2 match. Randall also owns a 13-8 victory over Leo-Esparolini.
Another candidate for a top three qualification is Castleton's Michael Gonyea. He's split with Leo-Esparolini winning by fall at 3:57 & losing a 6-4 sudden victory match. He took Santiago to a 2-1 match.
Scotty Richter of Williams defeated Gonyea 10-2, so that certainly also makes him a contender for NCAA DIII qualification. Santiago defeated Richter 4-2.
As you can see we have six quality wrestlers all more than capable of being top three in the Northeast Regional when it is all said and done. QF's on through, this will be an interesting bracket.
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| 141 lbs |
Both Johnson & Wales' Hayden Brown & Springfield's Chris Trelli were NCAA DIII qualifiers in 2020. Is that the final we'll see at this year's Northeast Regional? It's a real possibility. Brown took it to Trelli 14-2 in one match, yet also lost to him 5-4. Seeding could make a difference here as Brown owns a 1:32 fall over Chris Perry of Trinity, who defeated Trelli 5-2.
The other wrestler of note in this bracket is James Rodriguez of Castleton. He owns a 6-3 match over Perry, and has kept it close with both Trelli & Brown. Vs Trelli he dropped a 3-0 match & Vs Brown although he did lose once by an 8-2 decision, he's given him 3-0, 2-0 and 4-3 matches.
Four talented grapplers and only three get to go.
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| 149 lbs |
The United States Coast Guard's Tony Ulaszek will be our #1 seed here, but again, I wouldn't call it a lock or a guarantee. Both Chase Parrott of Springfield in a 2-1 match & Anthony Chavez of NYU in a 3-2 match have given him some close ones.
Evan Fidelibus of New England College was an NCAA DIII qualifier in 2020. He'll have his work cut out for him if he wants to make it back again in 2022. Thus far he has a nice 6-5 victory over Colby Frost of Southern Maine, as he has split with Ben Bariso of Roger Williams. Dropping a 13-5 major decision, he defeated Bariso 15-8. He's also dropped a 5-1 decision to Parrott.
As to Bariso, he has a 9-7 sudden victory over Frost & an 11-5 decision over Chavez going for him. Marks against him include a 6-1 loss to Parrott & then 11-2 & 7-4 losses to Gabriel McDaniel of Johnson & Wales. Chavez has a -4 victory over McDaniel.
Good luck.
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| 157 lbs |
You can lay your money down on Nathan Lackman of Rhode Island College, as he should win a Northeast Regional Title without much problem. Tus far he owns a 7-1 victory over Trent Furman of NYU & a 3:35 fall over Logan Dubuque of Castleton.
The question is, who joins him? Who takes silver & who takes bronze?
Jacob Deguire of Springfield? He's split with Dubuque winning a 10-3 decision and dropping a 4-1 decision.
Another name to look at here is Williams' Albert Xing who owns a 5-1 victory over Dubuque.
Only two spots remaining with Lackman leading the way & four guys who want those spots.
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| 165 lbs |
2021 NWCA All American Phil Rogers of the United States Coast Guard will be our forerunner for the Northeast Regional title. He owns a 5-1 victory over plausible finalist Cooper Pontelandolfo of NYU, as well as a 16-0 technical fall over Michael Angers of Castleton.
The real question here at 165 lbs, is who will take 3rd? I think it could be be one of four wrestlers, Angers being one of them. He owns a 6-5 victory over Brenden Kiernan of Williams. Kevin Lyskawa of Trinity owns a 5-4 victory over Kiernan. Robert Garcia of Johnson & Wales owns a 5-4 victory over Angers. If history repeats itself, whoever takes 3rd here, will most likely do so with many hard fought, close matches.
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| 174 lbs |
Undefeated on the season, the closest match that Michael Ross of Johnson & Wales has had with his competition in the Northeast Regional has been a 5-2 match with Jason Geyer of NYU. He owns a 16-0 technical fall over Dominick Esposito of USMMA.
Speaking of Esposito, an NCAA DIII qualifier in 2020, I'm not even 100% positive if he'll be the starter for the USMMA at this tournament. Thus far he's split with teammate Draygan Colonese, winning a 2-0 match but dropping a 7-2 match. He has a 7-3 loss to Geyer as well.
Another candidate for possible NCAA DIII qualification & a top three finish is Marco Gaita of Wesleyan, who also qualified in 2020. He owns a 7-0 victory over Daniel Curran of Norwich, but dropped a 10-6 decision to Dante Gutbrod of Williams. To make matters even more confusing, Curran pinned Gutbroad in 6:52.
We have a bit of parity going on at 174 lbs & it'll be interesting to see how this bracket ends up being seeded. In wrestling we often like to romanticize that seeds don't matter, but when you have a 19 man bracket, & only the top 3 get to go to the NCAA DIII's, you often find out that seeds actually do matter. In fact, they matter a lot. Upsets always have and will continue to happen, but some paths are certainly easier than others.
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| 184 lbs |
Three time NCAA DIII qualifier, 2021 NWCA runner-up, Paul Detwiler of the United States Coast Guard is arguably the surest bet for a Northeast Regional Champion there is. His likely opponent in the finals is Ryan DeVivo of Johnson & Wales, who he's already majored 20-7. He also owns three impressive wins over Edwin Morales, a likely candidate for 3rd place, 13-8, 13-4 & 9-3.
DeVivo as mentioned, a candidate to meet Detwiler in the finals owns a 12-4 victory over Morales, as well as a 5-2 decision over Cole Shaughnessy of Roger Williams & a 6:12 fall over Izaake Zukerman of NYU.
Shaughnessy owns a 9-3 victory over Zuckerman & Morales owns a 7-5 sudden victory over Shaughnessy.
Zuckerman, a 2020 NCAA DIII qualifier has his work cut out for him if he wants to make another appearance at teh national tournament.
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| 197 lbs |
This will be a really fun weight class. You have Coy Spooner of the United States Coast Guard the likely #1 seed. Then we have Darby McLaughlin of Western New England as Chance Lapier of Castleton. Better's chance, I'd give Lapier the #2 seed and McLaughlin the #3 seed, but switch them around, either way, it's our likely semi-final match. Lapier as of now owns a 5-2 decision over McLaughlin. Now, Spooner does own a 14-0 decision over Lapier, but the last time the two met it was a very close 8-6 decision. Then when Spooner and McLaughlin met, that too was a very close decision, a 2-1 decision in fact.
Those are the three I see placing 1st, 2nd, 3rd & going to the NCAA DIII national tournament, but with that said, I dare not overlook Travis Arata of Roger Williams and his capabilities.
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| HWT |
The one thing I'm very confident about when it comes to the Northeast Regional at HWT is the one of our qualifiers will be Liridon Leka of Johnson & Wales. An 18-4 major decision as well as a 1:45 fall over Shea Garand of Castleton & two 6-2 decisions over Addison Boisvert of Roger Williams. The one thing that is not guaranteed though, is that he'll win a title. I do think that Jake Peavey of Southern Maine, who's wrestled him to 8-5 & 4-3 decisions thus far will give him a run for his money.
As to Peavey he also owns a 2:38 fall, a 8-0 major decision and a 7-2 decision over Garand. He's pinned Tommy Goodwin of Williams in 2:31 & he's beaten Boisvert twice once by fall in 2:00 & by 9-1 major decision.
Boisvert owns a 7-0 decision over Garand as well as a6-2 decision over Goodwin.
Garand owns a 9-3 decision over Goodwin.
Then last but not least there is Jacob Raboy of Hunter, who owns a 13-7 decision over Goodwin.
The final I see here is betwen Leka and Peavey, with an all out War among the rest listed for 3rd.
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This is a fun regional to follow for a couple of different reasons. While Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York are still represented strong, it's fun to write about kids from the "other" eastern states of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, ect. It's also fun to see how well the USCG is doing this seaso & that the USMMA has some good wrestlers too. The smaller military schools often get over shadowed by Air Force, Navy, Army, The Citadel & the other "bigger" schools. I realize that Johnnythompsonnum1 didn't get as much coverage done for DIII this year as I hoped to. I'm hoping that time, $$ & resources will be more plentiful for me next season & in the years to come. It's been brought to my attention that JT#1 is heavy in DI coverage. I'm trying to expand that more, but as a one man show, it's a challenge. I hope you have enjoyed what DIII coverage I have been able to do this season.
Thank you for doing this for the NE Region AND for Division 3 wrestling fans!!!! Awesome Job !!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you
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