Roger Williams 2017 Preview
Team: Roger Williams University
Head Coach: Jon Egan
Years at School as Head Coach: 7
Career Record at Current School: 110-19
Assistant Coaches: Tim Ferreira, Scott Pellerin, Keith Medeiros, Dylan Caruana, Danny Downes, Ty Herzog, Chris Cornwell, Arthur Pellerin
2016-2017 Dual Meet Record: 21-2
2017 NCAA Qualifiers: Tyler Herzog (157, 7th)
Top Returning Starters:
Nicholas Barbaria 125 (2x Region Placer, 2x Academic All-American)
Jason Jacobi 133 (Region Placer)
Justin Cochran 149 (Region Placer, 92 career wins, 48 career pins)
Ty Gazaway 157 (Region Placer)
Top Incoming Wrestlers:
Tristan Haviland (Trumbull High School, Conn.) – New England Champion
Nicholas Pagnotta (Rocky Point High School, N.Y.) – NY Section Placer
Nicholas Wagner (Wall High School, N.J.) – NJ State Qualifier
Ricky Reimers (Roxbury High School, N.J.) – NJ State Qualifier
Michael Mirmina (Trumbull High School, Conn.) – New England Placer
Vincent Hellthaler (Northern Burlington High School, N.J.) – NJ State Qualifier
Ryan Luchs (Pope John XXIII High School, N.J.) – NJ State Qualifier
Jarrett Legg (Champlain Valley Union High School, Vt.) – VT State Champion
Connor Fortune (Morris Knolls High School, N.J.) – NJ Region Placer
Edward Cropper (Franklin High School, Mass.) – MA State Qualifier
Michael Fernandes (Voorhees High School, N.J.) – NJ State Qualifier
Jacob Faria (Somerset Berkley Regional High School, Mass.) – MA State Qualifier
Anthony Malfitano (Pearl River High School, N.Y.) – NY State Placer
David Wyzykowski (Haddam Killingworth High School, Conn.) – CT State Placer
Nicholas Klinoff (Phoenix High School, NY) – NY Section Placer
Season Outlook:
The goal is the same for the Hawks but in a different city – make a splash on the National scene and bring some hardware back from Cleveland, Ohio in March. The Hawks look to reload as they graduate four NCAA qualifiers in Downes, Herzog, Golner and Foster. Nicholas Barbaria, Jason Jacobi, Justin Cochran, and Ty Gazaway are returning Regional Placers taking 6th, 4th, 5th and 5th. The Hawks also return two Academic All-Americans who look to repeat this season – Nicholas Barbaria and Carter Merecki. Thirty match winners Chris Francis and Taylor Shay look to make a jump as well as Brett Leonard. Senior, Justin Cochran, currently has 92 career wins and looks to break the all-time pin record as he sits with 48. Senior, CJ Moyer, aims to graduate from RWU with a prestigious accomplishment – the highest GPA of any student-athlete at RWU. He currently sits at a 3.98 GPA.
There have been some strong additions to the roster as New England Champion, Tristan Haviland looks to make a splash at 133. New York Placer, Anthony Malfitano, and NJ State Qualifier, Mike Fernandes, also look to do some damage at 165/174. 141 looks to be a battle of the freshmen to see who makes their mark between Legg, Luchs, Mirmina, Wagner, Hellthaler, Reimers and Pagnotta.
The schedule is set for the Hawks as they travel to Pennsylvania a number of times for the Monarch Invitational (Kings College), New Standard Invite (York), and the prestigious Budd Whitehill Duals (Lycoming). To cap off the regular season, the Hawks will face JWU in a location with a great atmosphere.