PROVIDENCE, R.I. (January 29, 2023) – First-year Ryan Smith and junior Joel Martsinovsky finished first at 157 and 174, respectively, to lead No. 5 Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling Sunday at the Wildcat Open, hosted by Johnson and Wales University at the Wildcat Center.

Sophomore Chris Stathopoulos finished second at 165, while senior Pasquale Vizzoni took third at 149 and classmate Arjun Khatri placed fourth at 125 to round out the Ducks' placewinners. In the open tournament, team scores were not tabulated. The hosting Wildcats won individual titles at 165, 197 and 285 to lead all entries, while the Ducks were tied with Nassau Community College with two weight class champions each.

Smith began his tournament by pinning Springfield's Jared Swartz in the third period, before advancing over Sacred Heart's Jonathan Siemsen via no contest. In the quarterfinal, Smith scored an 8-1 decision victory over Johnson & Wales' Carson Barry. He advanced to the semifinal with a 6-2 decision over Coast Guard's Jacob Woodburn. He closed out his day with a no contest over the Wildcats' Matthew Garcia in the championship match.

Martsinovsky, meanwhile, began his day with consecutive bonus-point victories. After an opening-round bye, the Richboro, Pennsylvania native defeated Thomas Czartoryski, who was competing unattached, via a 13-1 major decision. Martinovsky then pinned Coast Guard's Truman Noble in the first period to reach the semifinals, where he topped sophomore Blaise Wagner via a hard-fought 5-2 score. He capped off his tournament run with an 11-6 decision over Roger Williams' Leonard Breit.

After an opening-round bye, Stathopoulos put on a strong showing on his way to the championship match at 165. The Clifton, New Jersey native advanced via forfeit over Nassau Community College's Joseph Russo, before pinning Johnson & Wales' Edward Marinilli in the third period. Stathopoulos then spun a 6-0 shutout of Coast Guard's Augustus Edwards to advance to the final. In the final, the second-year grappler fell to Johnson & Wales' Patrick Wisniewski via a narrow 5-3 decision. 

Vizzoni opened his tournament by posting a 15-4 major decision over Johnson & Wales' Edwin Morales, the first of his three bonus-point victories on the day. After dropping to the consolation bracket, Vizzoni began his march to the third-place match with a 16-0 tech fall over Jedidiah Kim, who was competing as an independent. He then pinned Springfield's Lucien Perla in the first period and then collected consecutive forfeit wins in the consolation semifinal and the third-place match to cap off his day.
 
Khatri turned in his best performance of the season, scoring four wins, including one with bonus points. After an opening-round bye, the South Brunswick, New Jersey native began his day with a 9-7 decision victory over Bridgewater State's Sei Dolomengi. After dropping to the consolation bracket, Khatri posted his first major of the season, topping Coast Guard's Jason Guglietta 11-1. He then moved to the consolation semis with a thrilling 10-8 decision over Roger Williams' Ari Dinerman in the first sudden-victory period. He then posted an 8-4 win over first-year Vincent Principe to reach the third-place match, where he fell to Johnson & Wales' Ryan O'Rourke for the second time in the tournament.

Elsewhere in the tournament, Principe posted a pair of dominant 15-0 tech falls at 125, junior Andrew Finateri and first-year Anthony Bistany had a tech fall and a pin, respectively, at 133. First-year Justin Ciliotta had two pins and three decisions at 141 before bowing out of the tournament. Sophomore Branden Bulatao had two wins at 157, while graduate student Jarrett Weir had two at 165. First-year Jack Bailey registered four wins, one by pin, at 165, while Wagner had two at 174, including an impressive 13-11 decision over Alex Dorce in the first sudden-victory period in his first match of the day. Sophomore Brendan Newbury had three wins at 184, while sophomore Max Ruiz had two pins at 197 to round out the Ducks' victories.

As a team, the Ducks totaled 14 pins, the third-highest total of any of the 18 teams in the field. The Ducks also totaled five tech falls, which ranked second in the field. Collectively, Stevens finished with a 60-26 record and the Ducks' .698 winning percentage was second among the competing schools, although the two schools that finished with a perfect 1.000 winning percentage combined for just six matches. Individually, Principe was tied for the event lead with two tech falls and Finateri's tech fall victory (17-0) over Bridgewater State's Alex Gauman in the second round came in just 2:30, which was the third-fastest tech fall in the event. 

Up Next: Wrestling returns to the mats on Feb. 4 for a triangular with No. 8 The College of New Jersey and Averett. Video links are posted to StevensDucks.com.

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