HOBOKEN, N.J. (December 6, 2023) – Six Ducks earned victories by decision as the No. 25 Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling defeated No. 11 United States Coast Guard Academy 18-15 Wednesday evening in a dual meet inside Canavan Arena. 

Junior Blaise Wagner scored two takedowns, one in the first period and one in the third period to earn a key victory at 197 for the Ducks, who won their fourth dual of the season to improve to 4-2. Wagner's victory clinched the dual.

Nate Fitt had a tech fall at 149 for the Bears, who dropped its dual opener in falling to 0-1. This was the first ever matchup between the two teams as the Ducks improved to 1-0 all-time over the Bears. 

Stevens won six of the 10 contested matches with all of the victories coming by decision. 

The Rundown

• Graduate student #15 Akhil Vega recorded an early takedown, but he fell to Nikko Beato at 125 via a 5-3 decision. The Coast Guard Academy extended their lead to 6-0 after #8/6 Chase Randall scored a 9-3 victory over senior #10 Luke Hoerle 9-3. Hoerle scored the early takedown similar to Vega, but could not seal the deal.
• Sophomore #15/6 Nico Diaz earned the Ducks' first points of the match as he picked up a 14-8 decision win over Charlie Gruen. Diaz scored four takedowns in the 141 lbs. bout.
• Fitt scored a big tech fall over graduate student Pasquale Vizzoni at 149 to give the Coast Guard a 11-3 lead.
• The next two matches were crucial close victories for Stevens. Sophomore #4/6 Ryan Smith scored a third period victory as he took down #14 Noah Caskey with an escape and a takedown in the final minute to earn a 9-6 win. Junior #15 Harrison Hinojosa followed at 165 and earned a close 9-7 victory over Steven Rochard.
• Trailing 11-9, Stevens found ways to continue to earn points as they won the next three bouts via decision to go up 18-11. Senior #13/6 Stefan Major tallied a last-second takedown to record a 6-5 decision victory over Joe Chapman at 174. At 184, senior #10 Joel Martsiovsky won a low-scoring duel with Caden Stout, taking him down via a 5-1 decision. Wagner then secured the duel victory for the Ducks at 197 as he brought Canavan Arena to its feet by defeating Kenny Marra 8-3.
• #2 Carl DiGiorgio defeated junior Max Ruiz at 285 by a 16-6 major to close the duel.

Top Performers

• Diaz scored 14 points, which was the highest point total scored by a Duck on the night. 
• Two of the 10 matches were contested by two nationally-ranked wrestlers, while eight of the ten matches featured at least one ranked wrestler.

For the Opponents

• Fitt's 19 points were the most by a Bear wrestler on the evening.

Around the Middle Atlantic Conference 

• Stevens was the only conference school competing on Wednesday.

Up Next

• No. 25 Stevens is off for the holidays. The Ducks return to the mats on January 5 as they host NJCU for a dual in Hoboken. Appropriate links will be posted to StevensDucks.com once available.

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