The 2018-19 season was the third season in the history of the schools wrestling program. The team’s record of 2-10 included a 30-17 win over fellow New Hampshire rival Plymouth State University. This season also included a good amount of postseason success with strong performances at both the NCAA Regional Qualifier and NCAA Championships.
“This program has grown and developed tremendously from the first year. Over the past 2 years we had grown significantly as a team in many areas to include our academics (5th highest team GPA in our 16 team NEWA Conference) as well as our team and individual wrestling performances. I am also very proud of the leadership and character growth of the student-athletes in this program. We are a young team and many of our guys have stepped up as leaders on and off the mat who represent our program very well,” said Head Coach, John Archambeau.
“The continued growth and development of this program is completely due to the amazing efforts of the student-athletes in the program, the dedicated assistant coaches (head assistant Brandon Gauthier, Graduate Assistant Robert Powell, volunteer assistants Jack DiBurro and Josh Devriendt), the passionate parents who support us at all our competitions, and the NEC athletic department.”
This season three wrestlers earned All-Region Honors. Freshman Chris DeRosa finished 4th in the 133 pound weight class in his first year at NEC. Sophomore Diego Santiago placed 6th in the 125 weight class as well as earning Scholar All-American honors for a combination of his wrestling performance and strong GPA. Junior Malik Settles became the first wrestler in NEC history to qualify for the NCAA Championships twice in his career when he placed third in the 174 pound class.
Settles traveled to Roanoke, Virginia to compete in the Division III NCAA Championships after finishing the season with a 12-2 personal record. He became the first wrestler in NEC history to win a match at the NCAA Championships when he won a second round match over Haydn Kinjorski of Olivet College by the score of 11-6. Settles would finish 12th in the event following a third round defeat.
Following the third season in program history, Coach Archambeau has lofty goals for the fourth. “We are all very excited for next year. We do not have anyone graduating and will be returning all of our wrestlers for next year. We expect to bring in a freshman class that will add to our returning wrestlers to make us very competitive. We have high goals for a lot of individuals and team performances, that include having over a winning dual meet record, placing high at the regional tournament, and qualify a bunch of guys for the NCAA championships and bring home a few All Americans. Academically we have a team that can be Top 3 in the NEWA Conference and Top 25 in the NCAA.”
