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In their first year back on the mats after a twenty-year hiatus, the Amherst College Wrestling Club placed seventh out of twenty-seven teams at the NCWA Northeast Championships last Saturday in Albany, N.Y.
The day was highlighted by two consecutive championships at the 235- and 285-pound weight classes by seniors Guy Matisis ’09 (Hingham, MA) and Tim Rose ’09 (Richmond, VA) . Matisis and Rose stunned the field, as both claimed victories over the top seeds within their weight class en route to their titles. Navy Prep squeaked ahead of Northampton Community College by one point to claim the team title.
The Amherst Wrestlers all faced both stiff competition and the additional burden of tough seeding, as the young program did not have as many matches or tournament criteria to justify attractive seeds. Nevertheless, Amherst’s wrestlers let their performance on the mats speak to their talent, in particular Matisis and Rose, but also several of the other Amherst grapplers. Key additional team points were contributed by first-years Walter Lehner ’12 (Holderness, N.H.), Ryan Conway ’12 (Manhasset, N.Y.), Gordy Lockbaum ’12 (Worcester, M.A.) and James Williams ’12 (Alexandria, V.A.) at the 141-, 149-, 165- and 197-pound weight classes, respectively.
Williams and Lockbaum battled back through the tournament after losing in the semifinals and finished 7th and 8th, respectively. Conway and Lehner did not place at 149 and 141, two very deep weight classes, but made their victories count with bonus team points earned with falls before getting knocked from contention.
Matisis and Rose will head to the NCWA National Championships in Hampton, VA on March 12-14 to represent Amherst, and wrap up the 2008-09 season, hopefully with another outstanding set of performances.
Amherst would like to congratulate all of the guys for their hard work and perseverance, and send their best wishes to Rose and Matisis as they continue working for a national title.
NCNCWA Northeast Regional Championships Final Team Standings:
| 1. Navy Prep | 97 |
| 2. Northampton CC | 96 |
| 3. Delaware | 85 |
| 4. RPI | 82 |
| 5. Army Prep | 80.5 |
| 6. UMass | 79 |
| 7. Amherst | 55.5 |
| 8. Hudson valley CC | 55 |
| 9. Northeastern | 52.5 |
| 10. Penn State | 52.5 |
| 11. Williamson Trade | 46.5 |
| 12. Pitt | 46 |
| 13. UConn | 46 |
| 14. Blair | 41.5 |
| 15. West Chester | 40 |
| 16. Bryant | 38 |
| 17. New Hampshire | 35.5 |
| 18. UAlbany | 32 |
| 19. Hofstra | 29 |
| 20. Coby | 28 |
| 21. Bentley | 24 |
| 22. UVM | 20.5 |
| 23. URI | 13 |