WASHINGTON, Pa – The Washington & Jefferson College men's wrestling team (6-11) split a pair of Presidents' Athletic Conference duals with a 34-12 loss to the Thiel Tomcats (3-1), followed by a win against 29-26 win over the Bethany Bison (3-5).
 
W&J 12, Thiel 34
The Tomcats got off to a strong start, taking the opening five weight classes. Freshman De'Mier Hamilton (Canton, Ohio/McKinley) got the Presidents on the board with a 16-5 major decision in the 165-pound bout.
 
Junior captain Jiovanni DeChicchis (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) continued to close the gap with a takedown at the buzzer of the final period to clinch a 4-1 decision at the 174-pound weight class, cutting the deficit to 25-7.
 
The Tomcats took the 184-pound bout to clinch the overall dual, but the Presidents kept fighting. Junior Jaden Fields (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) wrestled his way to a 17-2 tech fall. Thiel went on to take the heavyweight bout and the overall dual 34-12.
 
W&J 29, Bethany 26
Out of the opening five weight classes, the Bison took the two that were contested to take a 14-12 lead. DeChicchis gave the Presidents their first lead of the day with a pin at the 1:16 mark remaining in the second period of the 165-pound bout.
 
The two teams traded the next two weight classes. Junior John Starusko (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) wrestled up a weight class and won by a 15-0 tech fall to give the 23-20 lead back to the Presidents. Fields clinched the dual win caused by pin with 1:02 remaining in the opening period of the 197-pound bout.
 
Bethany took the heavyweight bout to close out the scoring, but W&J took the overall win 29-26.
 
W&J returns to the mats on Thursday (Feb. 5) to face the Division II Fairmont State Fighting Falcons. The dual will commence from Waynesburg Central High School at 7:00 p.m.