The Boston University wrestling team competed in the Colonial Athletic Association Friday and Saturday at George Mason University, with one BU grappler winning his bracket and a bid to the NCAA championships at the Palace of Auburn Hills on March 15.
Sophomore Mike Roberts, the Terrier’s 149-pounder, secured BU’s first individual CAA championship and NCAA tournament bid since Ali Abri reigned as 184-lb. champion in 2002. Roberts, the fourth seed in his weight class, defeated three seeded opponents en route to his victory, including an upset of the first seed in the semifinal match.
Roberts’s first match of the tournament came Friday when he outlasted fifth seed Mark Cartella of Drexel University by a 3-1 decision. Roberts continued to roll through competition the following day, squeezing out a 6-5 victory over first-seeded Hofstra University grappler Mike Parziale in the semifinals.
Not one to shy away from the role of the underdog, Roberts came to the championship match against the second seed, Rider University’s Mike Kessler, hoping to earn a second upset victory. Roberts wrestled the championship away from Kessler with a 5-3 decision.
Roberts wasn’t the only one holding on to championship hopes after Friday’s day of matches, as teammates Joey Whitaker and Carlo Ferrandino both won their opening bouts. Ferrandino, a sophomore 141-pounder, fared well as the third seed of his bracket, finishing fourth, while Whitaker, a junior and third-seeded 133-pounder, hit a rough stretch against other seeded opponents.
Ferrandino first rolled through sixth seed James Mitchum of James Madison University with an 11-6 victory. Facing second-seeded Rider grappler Don Fisch did not fare the same luck as he did in his match against Mitchum, as Ferrandino dropped the contest with a major decision loss. He then rebounded in the bronze semifinal match, pinning fifth-seed Cory Dunn of Sacred Heart University before ceding the medal to fourth seed Ryan Williams of Old Dominion by way of major decision.
Whitaker, who defeated George Mason wrestler Will Powars by one point in his first match of the tournament, was overwhelmed by second seed Christian Staylor of Old Dominion in a major decision loss before being pinned by Sacred Heart’s Paul Galipeau to end his tournament hopes.
Another notable performance for the Terriers came from 125-pounder Abbie Rush, who came in to the tournament as the sixth seed. Rush, a freshman, took down Wagner College’s Joe Cipriano before being derailed by a loss to No. 3 Kyle Hunter of Old Dominion. Only momentarily thrown off track, Rush went on to post victories over Campbell’s Rich Apolinar and James Madison’s Marshall Sweet. A major decision loss at the hands of Rider’s Tommy Lorenzo sealed Rush’s fate, who joined 174-pounder A.J. Detwiler with a CAA tournament record of 2-2.
Jim Connors, the 285-pounder, was faced with a tough draw after steamrolling through Rider’s Nick Ciufo 11-5. Connors then went head-to-head with first seed Payam Zarrinpour of Sacred Heart, a match that resulted in a Zarrinpour victory by a 34 second pin. Connors was eliminated from the tournament after being defeated 8-3 by third seed Ryan Kirkpatrick of George Mason.
Having a similar experience to Connors, 184-pounder Eli Vidal attempted to pull off an upset in the opening round against second-seed Rider grappler Mike Miller. Unfortunately for Vidal, Miller prevailed with a major decision victory. The unseated Vidal then went on to face sixth-seeded George Mason grappler Matt Moyer, who added a victory over Vidal to his accomplishments with a tech fall triumph.
Vidal was not the only Terrier to be held winless, as C.J. Inglin, BU’s 165-pounder, also came up short in two attempts, the first against George Mason’s Tyler Tisdell and the second against Sacred Heart’s Ricky Nappi.
Overall, the Terriers finished sixth out of 11 teams, with Hofstra continuing its dominance of the CAA for its sixth-straight team championship. With 29.5 team points, the Terriers fell far short of Hofstra’s mark of 138.5 points, an astonishing 49.5 points over second-place Old Dominion.