Interview - Kalen Gans, Phil Woods

HOBOKEN, N.J. (January 4, 2015) – The 16th-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling team improved to 5-2 with home wins over Trinity College (Conn.) and Hunter College Sunday in the Canavan Arena.
 
The Ducks opened the day with a 40-14 rout of Trinity and downed Hunter, 28-17, to end it.
 
Stevens 40, Trinity 14
Sophomore Rob Murray opened the match with six points via forfeit at 125, and after a pair of majors for the Bantams, Stevens began to roll, winning six of the final seven bouts in the dual.
 
Freshman Zach Wilhelm won by forfeit at 149 pounds, and senior 157-pounder Mike Polizzi did the same at 157.
 
Senior CJ Caserta tallied a win by fall at 165 to give the Ducks a 24-8 edge, with senior Zach Bass earning an 8-0 major decision shutout of senior Joseph Gerish at 174. Freshman Phil Woods won by fall just 2:33 into his bout against senior Varun Konanki to make it 34-8 Ducks, and after a forfeit at 197 pounds, senior heavyweight Chris Florek earned another forfeit win for the final score of 40-14.
 
Stevens won 7-of-10 bouts in the match and 13-of-20 on the afternoon, earning two technical falls and four falls on the day.
 
Stevens 28, Hunter 17
Murray picked up a decision over senior Kenny Albert to get the Ducks started strong in the night cap and finish his day 2-0. After two wins at 133 and 141 netted the Hawks an 8-3 lead, Wilhelm tallied a technical fall to tie things at eight. The Stevens rookie won by a score of 20-4 against freshman Andy Huang. Polizzi followed suit with a technical fall of his own at 157 lbs. (16-0, 1:28) to give the Ducks the lead for good at 13-8.
 
A Hunter win at 165 trimmed the hosts' lead to two (13-11), but back-to-back falls sealed the victory for the Ducks. Junior Kalen Gans pinned senior Nick Wilkie at 174 late in the third period of his match to give the Ducks a 19-11 margin, and Woods pinned fellow freshman Max Garkusha less than one minute (0:52) into their bout.
 
Hunter won by forfeit at 197, and Florek nabbed a hard-fought 7-3 decision for the Ducks versus junior heavyweight Patryk Kopczynski to close out the scoring.
 
Stevens is now 5-2 overall and 5-1 against NCAA Division III foes. The Ducks have also added two third-place finishes at tournaments to their ledger and will return to action at the North-South Duals next Saturday, January 10.
 
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Stevens 40, Trinity 14 - 10 a.m. - Canavan Arena - Hoboken, N.J.
125: Murray (S) wins by forfeit (Stevens, 6-0)
133: Hamilton (T) maj. dec. over Geiger (S), 11-3 (Stevens, 6-4)
141: Brewer (T) maj. dec. over Gillman (S), 13-4 (Trinity, 8-6)
149: Wilhelm (S) wins by forfeit (Stevens, 12-8)
157: Polizzi (S) wins by forfeit (Stevens, 18-8)
165: Caserta (S) fall (1:41) over Berland (T) (Stevens, 24-8)
174: Z. Bass (S) maj. dec. over Gerish (T), 8-0 (Stevens 28-8)
184: Woods (S) fall (2:33) over Konanki (T) (Stevens, 34-8)
197: Hennessy (T) wins by forfeit (Stevens, 34-14)
HWT: Florek (S) wins by forfeit (Stevens wins 40-14)
 
 
Stevens 28, Hunter 17 - Canavan Arena - Hoboken, N.J.
125: Murray (S) dec. over Albert (H), 7-6 (Stevens, 3-0)
133: Traficante (H) dec. over Geiger (S), 6-4 (Tied, 3-3)
141: Palmer (H) tech. fall (3:10) over Gilman (S), 16-0 (Hunter, 8-3)
149: Wilhelm (S) tech. fall (6:50) over Huang (H), 20-4 (Tied, 8-8)
157: Polizzi (S) tech. fall (1:28) over Heine (H), 16-0 (Stevens, 13-8)
165: Bader (H) dec. over Caserta (S), 4-2 (Stevens, 13-11)
174: Gans (S) fall (6:21) over Wilkie (H) (Stevens, 19-11)
184: Woods (S) fall (0:52) over Garkuska (H) (Stevens, 25-11)
197: Melendez (H) wins by forfeit (Stevens, 25-17)
HWT: Florek (S) dec. over Kopczynski (H), 7-3 (Stevens wins 28-17)