The Cardinal wrestling squad finished as it was seeded in the annual New England Wrestling Association Duals at Springfield College on Sunday, placing third in a field of 15 teams with a 3-1 mark. The Cardinals defeated 14th-seeded W.P.I., sixth-seeded Roger Williams, and fourth-seeded Rhode Island College but fell to No. 2 seed Johnson & Wales in a semifinal match. The success at Springfield improved the Cardinals’ record in their last eight dual matches to 6-2; Wesleyan also captured three of four matches last weekend.

Wesleyan opened its action at Springfield with a 47-0 victory over W.P.I. Two Cardinals, Chris Alvanos ’11 at 133 and Dave Bachy ’10 at 147, pinned their opponents, while two others, Josh Berkovic ’10 (165) and Luke Erickson ’12 (197), amassed 15-point leads to win by technical fall. Heavyweight Dan Conroy ’11 won by forfeit, as did Zach Rolfe ’10 at 184. The other four Cardinals won their bouts by a combined score of 23-1.

Against Roger Williams, the Cardinals rolled to a 28-9 victory to head into the semifinals. Wesleyan won seven of ten bouts in the match, including a pin by Conroy and technical falls by Alvanos and Greg Hurd ’10 (174). In addition, Dan Bloom ’10 (125) and Bachy cruised to 7-0 and 6-0 victories, respectively.

The Cardinals took on Johnson & Wales looking to avenge a 28-7 defeat in Rhode Island last Saturday. The Wildcats, ranked second in New England and 19th nationally, won a pair of bouts by one point and took another by injury default en route to a 24-13 win. There were a number of bright spots for the Cardinals in the match, however, including Hurd, who earned a major decision at 184 (13-4), and Berkovic, who earned a 6-1 victory. Howard Tobochnik ’13, who took an 11-9 decision at 141, and Bachy, who won his bout 11-6, had the Cardinals’ other wins.

The Cardinals rebounded with a resounding 32-10 victory against R.I.C. to take third place in the event. Bachy recorded Wesleyan’s fifth pin on the afternoon, and Berkovic won by technical fall, giving both wrestlers a 4-0 record on the afternoon. Hurd won his match by forfeit, giving him a perfect record in the event. Bloom finished off a 3-1 day with a 6-0 decision, and Erickson and Maika Nagata ’13 (133) both won their bouts as well.

The third-place finish tied Wesleyan’s second-best showing at the event, as the Cardinals also placed third in 2006-07. Wesleyan placed second in 2001-02, when the Cardinals finished with a 17-2 record. The Cardinal matmen also improved three spots on last year’s sixth-place finish.

The Cardinals now hold a 7-5 dual-match record after going 3-1 last weekend. In its opening home matches of 2009-10, Wesleyan earned a pair of wins against Roger Williams (24-12) and Trinity. Wesleyan won six of ten matches against Roger Williams, including pins by Bloom and Alvanos. Tobochnik rolled to a 12-5 victory at 141, and Bachy took his match at 157 by a 7-2 count. Berkovic (5-3) and Kyle Roosa ’13 (4-2 at 174) also recorded wins for the Cardinals.

Wesleyan went on to take its match against Trinity by a similar score, 28-12. Bloom and Nagata recorded pins, and Bachy added a major decision (14-4). Berkovic, Roosa, Rolfe, and Vinny deLalla ’11 (149) added decisions to help lead the Cardinals to their seventh straight win against the Bantams. Wesleyan won both matches decisively despite being without the services of Hurd, who was out of town for a job interview in both matches.

The Cardinals were right back at it on Saturday with a pair of matches at Johnson & Wales. Wesleyan took a 19-15 victory against Southern Maine thanks to a 4-3 decision by Berkovic in the match’s final bout. Wesleyan took four of the first five matches against the Huskies, including one forfeit, for a 16-3 lead, but four straight USM decisions cut it to 16-15 before Berkovic clinched the victory. The Cardinals fell to Johnson & Wales 28-7 to conclude their weekend action. The Wildcats took the first eight bouts before Bachy posted a major decision at 157. Berkovic also took a 3-1 decision, making him the only Cardinal to go 4-0 over the weekend.

The Cardinals inaugurated the dual-match season at the North-South Duals at Ursinus College on Jan. 9. Wesleyan faced three nationally ranked teams in The College of New Jersey (No. 6), Ithaca College (No. 4), and Wilkes University (No. 15), in addition to York College (Pa.). Wesleyan rolled over York 34-6 as the Cardinals captured eight of ten bouts, but fell to the other three opponents. Hurd went 2-2 in the event, with both of his wins coming by pin and both of his losses to nationally ranked opponents. Bloom also went 2-2, with a major decision and pin to his credit.

The Wes matmen return to action with a home meet Friday night against Western New England, which finished 11th on Sunday. The Cardinals then travel to R.I.C. on Saturday to take on the Anchormen, Springfield and M.I.T.