Lianne Yun, Staff Photographer

The wrestling team returned home to Silloway Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon for its final dual meet of the regular season after spending the past two weekends on the road at Ithaca College and Springfield College. The Cardinals hosted tough competitors from New England College and the University of Southern Maine, while taking the time to celebrate the career achievements of seniors Zack Murillo, James Matias, Karl Seitz, Shane Ross, and Dylan Jones. After dominating New England College 34-5 and falling shortly to Southern Maine with a score of 21-17, Wesleyan concluded its dual meet schedule with a 5-9 record.

“We had some incredible performances by our veterans on Senior Day,” junior Roy Forys said. “I was just glad to be able to contribute from my end and play a part in securing the win against New England College.”

Foys has already proven himself to be one of the team’s best fighters with a 30-3 individual record. Forys picked up two wins on the day at the 165lb weight class, one with a pin against New England College and another by a major decision victory against Southern Maine.

In the first dual meet against New England College, Tristan Stetson ’20 picked up the Cardinals’ first victory of the day with an impressive takedown at the 133 in a close 7-5 decision. Matias then followed suit by pinning his opponent in 4:00 at the 141, while Ross earned a major decision win of 18-4 at the 149. Simon Chee ’21 also earned the Cardinals six points with a quick pin at the 197 in just 2:30, while fellow sophomore Harrison Karp concluded the dual in strong fashion with a 7-4 decision victory.

The Cardinals’ second and final matchup of the day pitted them against the University of Southern Maine. The dual began with a fight for the ages, with senior Murillo squaring off against Peter del Gallo, a highly decorated fighter who was recently ranked the number-one wrestler in the nation at the 125. Murillo secured a huge upset after narrowly defending a last second single leg by del Gallo, resulting in an impressive 3-2 decision victory.

Matias and Forys continued on to earn the Red and Black points with major decision victories of 12-1 and 10-1, respectively, while Chee and first-year Marco Gaita also picked up decision victories at the 174 and the 196. With Wesleyan narrowly leading by 17-15, the duel ultimately came down to a matchup at the 285. Unfortunately for the Red Birds, Southern Maine’s Mike Risti pinned down Karp early in the first period, earning the Huskies their second win of the day by a final score of 21-17.

“Our team record [5-9] isn’t necessarily indicative of the level of talent that we have,” Forys said. “Coach Black seeks out the toughest competition in order to prepare us for the postseason, and we’ve wrestled extremely close matches with some of the best in the country. I’m very proud of the grit our team has displayed battling through numerous injuries throughout the season. I am particularly impressed with the maturity the underclassmen have shown by stepping in and filling several of the starting spots in the lineup right off the bat.”

With the regular season coming to a close, Wesleyan will travel to Springfield, Mass., next Sunday, Feb. 26, to compete at the NEWA Futures Tournament hosted by Western New England University.

“Even though the NEWA event is the culminating tournament of the season, we’re trying to treat it as we would any other event in order to keep us grounded,” Forys said. “We’re fine tuning our techniques and looking to perfect all the little things that we can over the course of the two-week preparation so we can come out firing on all cylinders.”

With just a few weeks left, Forys feels somewhat bittersweet about the season coming to a close.

“I’m looking forward to enjoying every moment with my teammates during these last few weeks, particularly with the seniors,” he said. “The men of the senior class played an integral role in changing dramatically the culture of Wesleyan wrestling for the better. I’m looking forward to everybody letting it fly and enjoying themselves at the NEWA tournament, getting our wrestlers on the podium, and ultimately sending a whole crew of us to Roanoke, Virginia, to compete in the NCAA Championships.”

Franklin Ribli can be reached at fribli@wesleyan.edu.