The New York University wrestling team, ranked #14 in the nation, split its two matches at the New Jersey City University Quad Meet on Saturday, December 10, in Jersey City, NJ.

The Violets defeated Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) 38-12 before falling to #6 Johnson & Wales University 36-12  

In the opening match against WPI, Benny Bautista (133), Hassan Khan (157), Cooper Pontelandolfo (165), Jason Geyer (174), and Nicky Bell (184) each recorded falls.

Also posting victories against the Engineers were Taisei Kurachi (125), Nicholas Kruczynski (141) and Dan Husain (149).

The two WPI victories (197, HWT) came by way of forfeit.

"We wrestled eight guys against WPI and won all eight," explained Associate Head Coach Corey Luce.  

In the second match again the Wildcats, Khan produced another fall, while Pontelandolfo and Geyer each won by decision.    

"You can't go into a match with the #6 team in the nation giving up 12 points (via forfeit) to start and expect to win," Luce said. "But, our guys fought hard and pulled out three of the eight contested matches."  

The Violets are now 4-1 in dual matches this season.

"Moving into the second half of the season we need to focus on getting our guys healthy and ready for the Citrus Open, which will be a great test against the best competition in the country," Luce added.

The wrestlers will be back in action at the end of the month when they compete at the Citrus Invitational on Thursday and Friday, December 29-30, in Fort Lauderdale, FL.