Weekly sports update: Results from February 7th to 13th

By Geoff Hassard - Sports Information Director

Wrestling (11-5)

The wrestling team finished their dual meet season on a high note as they won their last three meets to finish 11-5. They defeated Wesleyan 39-12 on the 7th and then followed that up with wins over Bridgewater State 28-15 and Roger Williams 30-18 on last Tuesday night at home.

Against Wesleyan, WPI picked up two forfeit wins at 118 and 126 lbs. to get off to a quick start. Stephen Nash-Webber (Arlington, MA) and Rob Polin (Randolph, MA) were the beneficiaries. WPI ended up winning six weight classes as Aaron Becker (Coventry, RI) took 134 lbs., John Leedle (Hickory Corners, MI) won at 142 lbs., Joe Tucker (Barre, VT) won at 150 lbs., Matt McCarthy (Malden, MA) won at 158 lbs., Lance Baden (Framingham, MA) won at 177 lbs. and Daryl Retzke (Wheaton, IL) won at 190 lbs.

Against Bridgewater and Roger Williams, Nash-Webber was victorious versus Roger Williams, Becker picked up two wins as did Tucker, McCarthy, Baden and Craig Howitt (Windham, ME). Polin won a match against Bridgewater as did David Gardner (Marlboro, MA).

The wrestling team will be competing in the New England College Conference Wrestling Association Tournament this weekend at Coast Guard. Good luck to all wrestlers.

Women's Swimming (1-9)

The women ended their season on Saturday the 8th in a meet against Keene State. Even though they were beaten 150-83, they were able to take some first places. Tina Cassamassina (Dingmans Ferry, PA) won the 100-yard freestyle. Sarah Snow (Holden, MA) won the 100-yard backstroke. Patty Linden (Highland, IN) won the 500-yard freestyle. Nancy Bedrossian (Seekonk, MA) won the 50-yard butterfly and Connie Pappagianopoulos (Peabody, MA) won the 3-meter diving event.

Men's Swimming (4-5)

The men split a couple of meets to end their season. They defeated Keene State 179-96 on the 8th and then dropped a close one to Brandeis last Monday 106-95.

Against Keene State WPI was led by Jamie Murdock (Woodinville, WA) and Jon Prusak (Easthampton, MA). Each swimmer won three events to help the squad to secure the win. Murdock swept through the 200, 500 and 1,000-yard freestyle events and Prusak won the 50 and 100-yard backstroke as well as the 100-yard individual medley. Other individual winners were Jeff Alcorn (E. Longmeadow, MA) in the 100-yard breastroke and Matt Ducey (Norwell, MA) in the 50-yard breastroke. Prusak and Ducey teamed with Adam Terio (Reston, VA) and John Lambie (Conroe, TX) to win the 200-yard medley relay. Lambie also joined Murdock, Greg Morse (Attleboro, MA) and Stephen Sacovitch (Worcester, MA) to win the 200-yard freestyle relay to close the meet.

Against Brandeis Murdock came away with the triple win as he again won the 200, 500 and 1,000 freestyle. Terio was the only other individual winner in the 200-yard butterfly. The foursome of Prusak, Alcorn, Terio and Morse were victorious in the 400-yard medley relay.

Women's basketball (11-10)

The women's team is beginning to play solid ball as they near the end of the season and the conference tournament. Last week they added wins over NEW 8 foes MIT and Smith and dropped a non-conference game to Brandeis.

On Saturday the 8th WPI traveled to Cambridge to take on the other Engineers and came out on top 77-73 as Kim Landry (Gardner, MA) exploded for a school record 46 points. She also grabbed 17 rebounds as she continues to play well. Danielle Batey (Fairfield, ME) was the only other WPI player to register double figures as she added 13 points.

Last Tuesday WPI welcomed Smith College to Harrington in another conference tilt. The star in this game was freshman Kate Burgess (Newport, ME) as she scored a career high 25 points, hitting five three pointers, to lead the Engineers to a 69-62 win. With the game tied at 40-40 with 16:12 remaining in the second half, WPI took control with a 10-2 run, led by six points by Burgess, that put them in the lead for good. Smith Would close the gap to 66-62 with twenty-six seconds left, but a pair of free throws from Burgess and Laura Bielitz (Agawam, MA) iced the game. Landry scored 14 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Bielitz finished with 11 points.

Two nights later the women traveled to Brandeis and were defeated 70-63. The Judges used an early 9-2 run in the second half to take command of the game. WPI did battle back and got as close as five points with 1:26 left, but four free throws by Brandeis put the game away. Batey was high scorer for the Engineers with 22 points followed by Landry with 17 points to go along with a game high 12 rebounds. Burgess followed up Tuesday's performance with 11 points.

Men's Basketball (12-8)

The men's team was on the road as well on the 8th as they were across the city to face Clark. This one went down to the wire as the Cougars pulled one out 77-74. WPI did have four players register double figures led by Mike Shannon (Worcester, MA) who scored 20 points. Jeff Cayer (Shelton, CT) was next with 16 points, then followed by John Lehane (Marlboro, MA) and Greg Simpson (Lebanon, NJ) with 13 and 11 points respectively. Shannon also had 11 rebounds in the game.

Last Thursday the men were at Springfield looking to avenge a 31-point loss two weeks ago. In a huge win, WPI came from eight points back to defeat the Pride 66-61 behind Shannon's 28 points, including a three point basket to put them ahead with 17 seconds remaining. The win snapped a 13 game winning streak for Springfield and put WPI in a solid position to grab second place in the conference prior to the tournament in another week. Cayer scored 16 points and Simpson added 11 in the victory.

Men's Indoor Track

The men have been busy as they prepare for the New England Championships. They competed at the Holy Cross Invitational on the 4th and then completed their Quad Cup series at MIT on the 8th. The men finished second at the Invitational as they compiled 131 points. WPI's highlight from this meet was a 14 foot pole vault from Dave Bowler (Cumberland, RI). It was good enough for first place, but it also qualified him for the indoor All New England Meet. Ted Manley (Salem, MA) continued his fine indoor season as he won the long and triple jump events. Tim Caldwell (Dover-Foxcroft, ME) won the 1,000-meter run, Kyle Heppenstall (Worcester, MA) was first in the 55-meter dash and Matt Linnemann (Middletown, CT) won the high jump. Other scorers for WPI were Mike Bugbee (Plympton, MA) was second in the triple jump, Keith Levesque (Nashua, NH) was second in the 500-meters and Dan Nashold (Rocky Hill, CT) took second in the 200-meters.

In the last Quad Cup Meet the top performers for WPI were: Heppenstall was second in the 55; David Hawes (Seal Harbor, ME) was fourth in the 55 and third in the 200; Pete Manolakos (Peabody, MA) was fourth in the 400-meters; Levesque was sixth in the 600-meter run; Caldwell qualified for the ECAC Meet with a third place finish in the 1,000; Liam Kelly (Shrewsbury, MA) was fifth in the 1,000; Pete Connolly (Bellingham, MA) was fourth in the 3,000-meter run; Manley was third in the triple jump and sixth in the long jump; Mike Pockoski (Dayville, CT) qualified for the ECAC Meet with a fourth place finish in the weight throw;

Bowler was a winner again in the pole vault to complete the scoring.

Women's Indoor Track

On Saturday the 8th the women were at the Smith Invitational. Competitors for WPI were Heather Mazzaccaro (Bristol, CT), Kelly Ploufe (Dudley, MA), Lydia Stawasz (Nashua, NH), Vicky Dulac (Manchester, NH) and Alison Keach (Chepatchet, RI).