Saturday, February 4, WPI braved the elements for a journey to Middletown, Connecticut to wrestle Wesleyan University. The Engineers were victorious 41-6. Winners for WPI were freshman Aaron Becker at 126 lbs., junior Paul Hammerstrom at 134 lbs., sophomore Nate Fiore at 142 lbs., junior Dan Hugaboom at 150 lbs., senior Matt Wassel at 158 lbs., senior Garrett Trombi at 167 lbs., senior Dave Argento at 190 lbs. and junior Rich DeStefano in the heavyweight division.
Last Wednesday the Engineers had a tri-match with Roger Williams and Bridgewater State. They ended up winning both matches 30-9 over Bridgewater and 29-16 over Roger Williams.
In the match versus Bridgewater, winners were freshman Bill Lucas at 118 lbs., Becker at 126 lbs., Chu at 134 lbs., freshman Peter Falk at 142 lbs., Trombi at 158 lbs., junior Jeff Stearns at 167 lbs., Argento at 190 lbs. and DeStefano in the heavyweight class.
In the match against Roger Williams, winners for WPI were Chu at 126 lbs., Fiore at 142 lbs., Hugaboom at 150 lbs., Trombi at 167 lbs., junior Matt Shedd at 177 lbs. and junior Rich Regan at 190 lbs.
We want to extend good luck to the team as they defend their NECCWA title this weekend, February 18-19, at Roger Williams College at 10 a.m.
WPI had only two swimmers win their event as sophomore Jason Wening won the 500-yard freestyle and freshman Brandon Alexopoulos won the 200-yard breaststroke.
Coach Whit Griffith will now ready his swimmers for the New England Championships on February 23-25 at Bowdoin College. WPI has many qualifiers for this year's championships along with our relay teams. Good luck to all competitors.
In the Clark game, WPI was facing them for the third time this season having won the previous two meetings. Senior Chris Dunn led four Engineers in double figures as senior Scott Ennis had an outstanding game with 19 points, sophomore Jeff Cayer had 17 points and junior Jim Naughton had 13 points to go with 19 rebounds.
In the game versus Amherst, two of the top ten ranked teams in New England Division III were meeting head to head. Amherst converted critical free throws down the stretch and won in overtime 79-76. WPI battled back throughout the entire game to tie it at 69-69 with a chance to win it in regulation. A lob towards the basket was all WPI had time for, but it was broken up and the two teams would play an extra session.
Five Engineers registered double figures in scoring led by Dunn with 19 followed by Mike Shannon with 16, Naughton with 13, Ennis with 12 and Cayer with 10. Four players also had double figures in rebounds led by Shannon and Naughton with 12 each followed by Ennis and Cayer with 10 each.
Tuesday, February 7, the Engineers put their perfect conference record on the line against Wellesley College. An early second half run opened up a tight game as WPI cruised to a 66-40 win and keep their winning streak alive. In the game sophomore Kim Landry had 22 points to lead the Engineers. Junior Jenn Lovin and sophomore Danielle Batey were immense on the boards as they each had 12 caroms each. They also scored in double figures as Lovin had 12 points and Batey had 13 points in the win.
In the game versus MIT, WPI set a school record by scoring 111 points enroute to a lopsided victory 111-62. The game was close for the first five minutes before the Engineers pulled away and never slowed down.
Landry led five players in double figures with 18, followed by Cathy Jzyk with a career high 16, freshman Andrea Kodys also with a career high 15, Lovin with 12 and Batey added 10 in the win. Junior Rebecca Rubenstein had a career night in ripping down 14 rebounds.
Congratulations to senior James Beardsley who set a new record in the high jump when he cleared 6'-71/2". The old record was 6'-7". This performance qualified him for the New England Division III Championships as well as the ECAC Meet.