Wrestling Season Preview

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The 2025-26 Bridgewater State University wrestling team opens the season this weekend with some experience and depth.

The Bears' roster features four of the top five winners from a year ago plus an All-NCAA Division III Northeast Regional performer last March.

BSU begins the season on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Kelly Gym, hosting the University of Southern Maine on Alumni Day.

The Bears have just five seniors on the roster with 10 juniors, nine sophomores and 11 freshmen.

The list of returners include junior Christian Curley (Bridgewater, Mass.), who was 23-11; senior Malcolm Chrispin (Hyde Park, Mass.), who finished 19-11; senior Sei Dolomengi (Brooklyn Park, Minn.), who was 16-18; and sophomore Mathew Piper (Townsend, Mass.), who was 9-10 at 184 heavyweight.

Senior Vincent Player (Duxbury, Mass.) earned All-Northeast Regional honors by finishing sixth at 184 pounds.

Seeded No. 12 at the regional in Middletown, Conn., Hopkins went 2-1 on the first day, pinning Ky'ell Roper of Johnson & Wales and winning a majority decision over Joe Colon of Wesleyan University.

After pinning Jaylen Hawkins of Western New England to start the second day, Player dropped two consolation round matches to finish 3-3. He had entered the regional with a 2-3 mark.

"We're excited," said coach Frank Cammisa, who began running the program at his alma mater in 2014. "We're bringing back a lot of guys and also have a lot of exciting new recruits coming in that have the potential to make an impact immediately.

"It's definitely a better place to start than we've had in the past few years when there were injuries or graduation. This is a good group that myself and the staff are excited to see how it all pans out."

Curley begins the season ranked No. 5 at 197 pounds in the New England Wrestling Association.

After going 7-14 as a freshman in the 2023-24 season, Curley climbed the rankings and cracked the 20-win mark as a sophomore.

"He has come a long way," said Cammisa of the co-captain. "He really developed last year. Hopefully this year, he's a little bit older and stronger and is able to make it happen in some of those bigger matches."

Chrispin spent his freshman year at Northern Illinois University, then transferred to BSU in 2023, going 21-10 with 57 takedowns for the Bears.

Despite dealing with some injuries last season, Chrispin, a 141-pounder, was just one win shy of reaching 20 again.

"He's been doing well and is ready to go," said Cammisa of the co-captain. "He's done a great job. We're very excited for him this year. As long as he stays healthy, he'll be successful."

Piper improved as his first season went along and just missed the 10-win mark.

"He came on strong," said Cammisa. "He took his senior year off from wrestling after wrestling as a junior. As a freshman, he did really, really well for having that year gap of wrestling."

Piper, a defensive lineman on the BSU football team, will join the wrestling squad in mid-November.

Dolomengi, a 125-pounder, had his best season in three years with the Bears. He went from nine and eight wins as a freshman and sophomore to 16 as a junior.

"He's going to do everything he can to be in the best place to perform in his last season," said Cammisa.

Also returning is sophomore 174-pounder Nathan Quinones (Bergenfield, N.J.), who had five wins, two by pin, and seven takedowns as a freshman.

Heavyweight Michael Mastroianni (Milford, Mass.) won seven matches, four by pin, as a freshman in 2023-24 but missed last season with an injury.

"If he is healthy and ready to go, I think he could do well," said Cammisa. "It's a matter of how much did that year off set him back to start the season."

Returning wrestlers who took part in the Northeast Regional include sophomore James Calabrese (Foxborough, Mass.) at 157, sophomore Christopher Dubey (Lowell, Mass.) at 149 pounds and junior Jack Janes (Avon, Conn.) at 157 pounds.

BSU has added two transfers from American International College, which dropped wrestling after last season.

Junior Cqari Bacote (Springfield, Mass.) will be at 149 and Jack Sullivan (Natick, Mass.) is a 125-pounder.

"They could make an impact right away,'' said Cammisa.

Promising freshmen include Ethan Buonanducci (Enfield, Conn.), Kamel Dib (Lincoln, R.I.) and Daniel Sullivan Jr. (Framingham, Mass.).

"We have a little bit of depth, which definitely makes my life a little bit easier," said Cammisa.

BSU has just three home dates this season, following the opener on Saturday with a tri-meet against Wesleyan and WPI on Jan. 10 and a dual meet with Williams College on Jan. 17, which is Senior Day.

The NEWA Dual Meet tourney is in Providence, R.I., Jan. 25 and the NCAA Northeast Regional is Feb. 28-March 1.

"We're already in a much better place in the preseason than we were last year," said Cammisa. "A very successful season for us would be a dual meet record above .500 and having five regional places and maybe a couple of national qualifiers."