Oberlander, Morales Lead Wrestling at Wildcat Open

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Senior Henry Oberlander (Mansfield, Mass.) and sophomore Edwin Morales (Philadelphia, Pa.) each placed first in their respective weight class to lead the Bridgewater State University wrestling team at the Wildcat Open hosted by Johnson & Wales University on Sunday at the Wildcat Center.

Oberlander went 3-0 out of the 197-pound weight class including a pair of wins by fall over Kyle Setzer (5:59) and Jack Rogers (3:36) of Roger Williams University. Oberlander captured the 197-pound title with a 5-1 decision against Noah Tandy of RWU in the championship bout.

Oberlander improves to 18-7 (.720) on the 2019-2020 campaign with four pins.

Morales went 3-0 wrestling out of the 184-pound weight class. He won his first two bouts by fall against Daniel Shafran of LIU (1:36) and Eli Wilson of Roger Williams (1:09) before earning a medical forfeit victory over Malik Settles of New England College in the first place match.

Morales is now 20-2 (.909) on the season with six pins.

Sophomore Ryan Higgins (Billerica, Mass.) went 4-1 and finished in third place competing out of the heavyweight class. Higgins recorded a 12-1 major decision over Mathew Meloni of host Johnson & Wales and followed that up with a pin (2:26) of JWU's John Iglesias. After falling to #8 ranked Michael DiNardo also of Johnson & Wales in the semifinals, Higgins pinned William Ogbebor of Roger Williams (3:43) and posted a 12-3 major decision win against Timothy Nagosky of Long Island University in the third place match.

Higgins is now 21-4 (.840) on the season with a team-leading 12 pins.

Junior Fox Maxwell (Winchester, Mass.) went 3-1 on the day and placed second out of the 165-pound weight class. Maxwell pinned Justin Halbert of SUNY Ulster (2:12) and followed that up with back-to-back decisions over Scott Defex of Nassau Community College and Ahmad Sharif of AIC. Maxwell lost in sudden victory overtime to JWU's Steven Ocampo, 3-1, in the first place match.

Maxwell leads the Bears with 22 wins (22-13).

The BSU wrestling team is back in action on Saturday afternoon as the Bears host a tri-match with Williams College and Plymouth State University.