BRISTOL, R.I. (November 12, 2022)  – Senior Pasquale Vizzoni finished second at 149 and first-year Jason Smith finished third at 157 to lead No. 7 Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling to a sixth-place finish Saturday at the Roger Williams Invitational.

Sophomore Blaise Wagner took fourth at 174 and first-year Justin Ciliotta placed fifth at 141 for the Ducks, who amassed 68 points to finish eighth out of the 12 competing teams. Castleton University won the team championship with 165 points, after winning three of the 10 weight classes. The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire also had three first-place finishes to take second place with 150.5 points. 

Seeded fourth at 149, Vizzoni scored four straight decision victories to reach the championship match, where he met Southern Maine's second-seeded Colby Frost. Frost used a four-point near-fall in the second period to edge Vizzoni 6-1 to claim the 149-pound title. The five-win day left the Flemington, New Jersey native with a 9-2 record.

Seeded second at 157, Smith, meanwhile, began his tournament with a dominating 18-3 tech fall over Hunter's Deston McFarlane. The Lincoln Park, New Jersey then scored back-to-back decision victories before dropping to the consolation bracket after falling to Johnson & Wales' Will Hughes. Smith then received a no-contest in the third-place bout.

Wagner began his tournament with an exciting 7-6 win over Coast Guard's Daniel Gibson, Wagner's escape point midway through the final period proved to be the difference in the match. Wagner then picked up a decision and a major to reach the semifinals, where a showdown with top-seeded Cooper Fleming of Castleton. Wagner was in front until Fleming scored a takedown with 26 seconds left in regulation. Wanger bounced back from the setback with a 10-3 decision over Plymouth's Chase Annestis. Wagner fell in the third-place match to close out his tournament.

Ciliotta had a nice run through the 141-pound bracket, scoring a tech fall and two decisions before dropping to the consolation bracket.

Elsewhere, sophomore Max Ruiz earned his first victory of the year with a first-period pin of Southern Maine's Tyler Cox; junior Andrew Finateri picked up his second bonus-point victory of the year with a major decision over Castleton's Caleb Massari; sophomore Chris Stathopoulos added three bonus-point wins in the 165-pound bracket and classmate Branden Bulatao added a pin and a tech fall to his win total. Four of Bulatao's five wins to date have been with bonus points.

Up Next: No. 7 Wrestling heads west for a pair of important events in the Midwest. Up first is a dual at No. 5 University of Wisconsin-La Crosse on Nov. 17. 

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