Golden Bears Fall In Dual With Wesleyan University, 27-12

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 24, 2026) – The Western New England men's wrestling team came up short on Saturday evening inside their own wrestling room in the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center, dropping a 27-12 dual to the Cardinals of Wesleyan University.

How it Happened:
Wesleyan cruised to wins in the first five matches of the evening to take an early lead on the Golden Bears. Ethan Titus made his WNE debut on Saturday, falling just short, 5-4, in a decision. Clayton O'Connor dueled in the 133 lb. weight class, falling 7-2 as Wesleyan took a 6-0 lead overall in the match. The Cardinals doubled their lead after the 141 lb. weight class when Hayden Myers picked up a fall victory in 1:25 to give Wesleyan a 12-0 lead. Wins continued for the Cardinals at 149 lbs. and 157 lbs., as two more decision wins put the Cardinals ahead 18-0 in the match.

WNE's first win of the evening came at 165 lbs., when Teghan McConnell earned a 9-8 victory over Kellen Horst to get the Golden Bears in the win column. Maxwell Bluhm followed up that match with a win of his own, picking up a 1-0 decision win as three more points went to the Golden Bears. In a competitive 184 lb. weight class match, WNE's Nicholas Baccala fell in overtime on a sudden victory to Roman Martinez, 16-13, seeing Wesleyan take the win. Charles Maloy earned a win at 197 lbs., grabbing a fall victory over Wynton Bowers to pick up six points for the Golden Bears. WNE was unable to come up with any additional points in the heavyweight class, falling to Wesleyan by a final score of 27-12.

Results:
125 lbs. – Chris Hong (WES) over Ethan Titus (WNE) – Decision, 5-4
133 lbs. – Taylor Tan (WES) over Clayton O'Connor (WNE) – Decision, 7-2
141 lbs. - Hayden Myers (WES) over Austin Monteiro (WNE) – Fall, 1:25
149 lbs. – Ike Guttentag (WES) over James Linder (WNE) – Decision, 5-0
157 lbs. – Ronnie Christolin (WES) over Matthew Rodriguez (WNE) – Decision, 4-1
165 lbs. – Teghan McConnell (WNE) over Kellen Horst (WES) – Decision, 9-8
174 lbs. – Maxwell Bluhm (WNE) over Ben Ronca (WES) – Decision, 1-0
184 lbs. – Roman Martinez (WES) over Nicholas Baccala (WNE) – Sudden Victory, 16-13
197 lbs. – Charles Maloy (WNE) over Wynton Bowers (WES) – Fall, 4:14
285 lbs. – Michael DiOrio (WES) over Nemo Pettway (WNE) – Disqualification
Extra: Silvan Unger (WES) over Jacob Gordon (WNE) – TF, 23-4, 6:38
Extra: David Lisk (WNE) over Alexander Rivard (WES) – Fall, 1:34
Extra: Matthew Donis (WNE) over William Maffei (Fall, 1:59)

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