NEW LONDON, Conn. – Graduate student Chase Anestis (Belmont, N.H.) rebounded from an opening-round setback to win three straight bouts and advance to day two of the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional Wrestling Championship at Gregory Fieldhouse at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy on Saturday. Senior Michael Moussa (Tucson, Ariz.) also had a strong day, going 2-2 and finishing one win shy of advancing to day two.
 
Anestis, who last competed nearly three months ago on Dec. 6, opened against Matt Gish of Roger Williams – the eighth-ranked wrestler in the region at 165 pounds. The bout remained scoreless through regulation, with Gish earning a point on riding time to escape with a 1-0 win. Anestis rebounded in a big way, getting stronger as the day progressed. He earned a 7-4 decision over Joey Balsley of WPI, followed by a decisive 16-1 technical fall over Cqari Bacote of Bridgewater State. Anestis then secured a spot in Sunday's consolation quarterfinal with a pin of Trinity's John Lagana in 4:49. Lagana entered the weekend ranked eighth in the region at 174 pounds.
 
Moussa narrowly missed out on joining Anestis in advancing in the heavyweight division. He started the day with a pin of Utica's Lukas Charles in 1:19 before falling to the region's third-ranked heavyweight by fall late in the second period. Moussa recovered with a 5-2 decision over Jaden Tesher of Rhode Island College before having his tournament come to an end by fall against Trinity's Emre Sensoy, who is ranked eighth in the region.
 
Senior Nick Savariego (Hillsdale, N.J.) faced a challenging path at 125 pounds, squaring off against two regionally ranked opponents. He lost by technical fall to Wesleyan's Chris Hong – ranked sixth – before being pinned by RIC's Domenic Sousa – ranked seventh – to conclude his career.
 
Wrestling at 133 pounds, freshman Hayden Durocher (Nashua, N.H.) faced an even more difficult slate of matchups, suffering pins against Springfield's Esuar Ordonez and Western New England's Antonio Intintoli – Region 1's third- and fourth-ranked wrestlers, respectively.
 
Sophomore John Allmers (Rivervale, N.J.) suffered a pair of technical fall setbacks at 141 pounds to Castleton's Nicolas Balella and Norwich's Nicholas Berrena. Freshman Gabriel Berger (Shoreline, Wash.) was pinned twice at 149 pounds by Johnson & Wales' Jared Spahn – ranked fifth in the region – and Springfield's Ty Stewart.
 
Sophomore Josiah Funches (Bow, N.H.) also competed for the Panthers at 174 pounds, where he dropped a pair of matches by fall. He opened against Castleton's Joseph Baker, the region's sixth-ranked wrestler in the weight class, before facing Trinity's William Meeker.
 
Plymouth State sits in 17th with 12 points.
 
 
Up Next:

• Anestis competes in the final day of the championships on Sunday (Mar. 1) and will need a top-three finish to advance to the NCAA Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa from Mar. 13 – 14.