COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. (January 18, 2025) – The Western New England men's wrestling team pulled out a fifth-place finish at the Will Abele Invitational on Saturday afternoon, seeing 12 of their own place in the top eight of their respective weight classes. Peter Charnley (149 lbs.) and Cameron Hines (165 lbs.) led the way for the Golden Bears with a second-place finish in their respective weight classes.

How it Happened:

Peter Charnley opened his first bout with a pinfall victory over Jared Dolder of Alfred State College in 3:52, which moved the senior on in the championship bracket. Charnley would continue to dominate the mat in his next bout, defeating TCNJ's Gavin Rucci on a major decision, 22-11, to advance to the semifinal round of the 149 lb. weight class. In the semis, Charnley would come away with a 5-1 decision win over teammate James Linder to move into the championship match of the weight class. Charnley would fall in the championship bout to take second place overall.

At 165, Cameron Hines opened with a 19-1 technical fall victory to open the afternoon. Hines would come away with a pall win in just 53 seconds in the next round against Eric Gal of MIT, continuing on in the championship bracket of the weight class. Hines would dominate his next two matches, picking up decision wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals, defeating Anthony Lawrence and Marc Kleyman, both of ESU. Hines would match up with CJ Shea in the 165 lb. weight class and would fall on an 8-4 decision to take second overall in the weight class.

Nicholas Baccala would take fourth overall in the 174 lb. weight class after coming away with three wins on the afternoon. Baccala would take a fall win in 4:15 to open the day before picking up a decision win 4-2 over Markys Lissaint of AIC. Baccala would fall in the third place match overall to take fourth.

In his second action of the season, Jaylen Hawkins would record a fourth-place finish in the 184 lb. weight class. After a BYE started the afternoon of Hawkins, the senior would pick up back-to-back major decision victories, the first a 14-6 win and the second a 14-5 win, both coming in convincing fashion. Hawkins would be pinned in the semifinals of the weight class before falling just short in the third place bout to take fourth overall.

James Linder opened his afternoon at 149 with a decision victory, 4-1, over AIC's Cqari Bacote. Linder would cruise to wins in his next two matches, picking up a decision win 10-4 and a technical fall win, 17-2, to advance to the semifinal round of the weight class. As mentioned, Peter Charnley would defeat Linder in the semifinal round while Linder would come up short in the third place match to finish fourth overall.

Charles Maloy would also finish in fourth place for Western New England, coming in the 197 lb. weight class. After picking up a bye, Maloy would earn a technical fall victory, 15-0, for his first win of the afternoon. Maloy would then pin Brent Perry of Alfred State in his next match to advance to the semifinals. Maloy would fall short in his next two matches and would finish with the fourth-place finish.

Western New England men's wrestling also saw Michael Bluhm (184 lbs., 5^th), Colin Carlin (157 lbs., 6^th), Matthew Rodriguez (157 lbs., 7^th), David Lisk (174 lbs., 8^th), Clayton O'Connor (125 lbs., 8^th), and Antonio Intintoli (133 lbs., 8^th) finish in the top eight of their respective weight classes on the afternoon, helping the Golden Bears pick up a fifth-place finish out of 14 teams on the day.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears will head to the NEWA Duals for their next competition on Sunday, January 26, beginning at 9:30 AM, hosted by Johnson & Wales University.