NEW LONDON, Conn. (March 1, 2026) – The Western New England men's wrestling team finished its 2025-26 season on Sunday afternoon at the NCAA Region I Championships, seeing six Golden Bears place in the top eight of their respective weight classes, earning all-region honors.
James Linder got a spot on the podium after his opening match victory of the day against Roger Williams's Matt Castillo, coming away with a 9-4 victory. Linder then fell in the consolation semifinals, dropping a 7-1 decision to Ike Guttentag of Wesleyan University. Linder wrestled in the fifth/sixth place match, falling short on a 5-0 decision to Johnson & Wales's Jared Spahn, taking sixth place in the 149 lb. weight class.
Matthew Rodriguez fell in his opening match of the day on a major decision to Ryan Kozdra on a 13-2 score. Rodriguez came up with a fall victory in the seventh/eighth place match in 2:48 to take seventh overall in the weight class, defeating Rhode Island College's Will Hunt. Rodriguez earns all-region honors for his seventh-place finish.
At 165 lbs., WNE's
Teghan McConnell came up short to Emmanuel College's Justin Hood in the consolation's fifth round match and wrestled Springfield College's Gabe Thomasson in the seventh/eighth place match, coming up with eight points in the third period to pick up a 12-9 decision victory, picking up seventh place overall for the Golden Bears.
Maxwell Bluhm was victorious over RWU's Gordon Murray in the opening match of the day, taking a 13-4 major decision victory, continuing in the hunt for third place. Bluhm's next match came against Joseph Baker of Castleton University, falling in 2:30, wrestling in the seventh/eighth place match, where Bluhm picked up a 3-2 decision victory to come away with seventh place overall.
After a pair of upset victories in yesterday's opening day,
Nicholas Baccala nearly repeated that after a quick takedown in the opening period but saw RWU's Joshua Nieroda pick up a takedown with 15 seconds left in the match to drop Baccala on a 4-3 decision. Baccala upset Wesleyan's Roman Martinez, the eighth-seed, in the seventh/eighth place match, picking up an 8-2 decision win for seventh place in the 184 lb. weight class.
At 197 lbs., Western New England's
Charles Maloy fell to Anthony Fernandez of Johnson & Wales University in 1:25, but bounced back in the seventh/eighth place match, defeating Wesleyan University's Warren Little on a 7-1 decision, earning all-region honors in his final match as a Golden Bear.
The 2025-26 season wraps up for the Golden Bears following the NCAA Region I Championships this weekend. WNE looks ahead to the 2026-27 season ahead.
