Wrestling Places 10th at Doug Parker Invitational

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University wrestling team place tenth out of 18 teams at the Doug Parker Invitational hosted by Springfield College on Saturday.

Brockport won the team title with 102.5 points followed by Centenary College (96 pts) in second place and host Springfield (87.5 pts) in third.  The Bears notched 61 team points.

Senior captain Ethan Raymond (Middlebury, Vt.) was the lone BSU grappler to compete in a championship match.  Raymond dropped a 3-1 decision to senior John Archambeau of host Springfield College in the 165-pound title bout.

Raymond posted a record of 4-1 with a pin.  He knocked off Ryan Madson of MIT in the semifinals to earn a spot in the championship match.

Also competing well for the Bears at the invitational were juniors Ken Francis (New Bedford, Mass.) and Michael Fenner (Bergenfield, N.J.) and senior Zachary Bates (Leyden, Mass.).

The 125-pound Francis went 5-1 with a 9-7 victory over Joey Schwartz of Wesleyan University in the third place match.  Francis' only loss was a 14-11 decision to nationally ranked Tyler Marlow of Brockport in the semifinals.

Fenner, who competes in the 184-pound weight class, went 3-2 at the tournament with a pin.  He dropped a tough 5-4 decision to nationally ranked Luke Pariso of Brockport in the semifinals.

Bates, who entered the tournament ranked ninth in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) national rankings, posted a 3-2 mark in the 174-pound weight class with both of his defeats coming against higher ranked wrestlers.  After winning his first three bouts, Bates lost to eighth ranked Ryan Dormann of Stevens Tech, 7-4, in the semifinals and dropped a 5-0 decision to sixth ranked Cameron Mills of SUNY Oswego in the wrestleback.

The Bears are off until December 3rd and 4th when they will compete in the Messiah Petrofes Invitational in Grantham, Pennsylvania.