Coast Guard wrestling team rolls by Merchant Marine
Feb. 10—NEW LONDON — Coast Guard Academy has gained the upper hand in its rivalry with Merchant Marine Academy since coach Kevin Bratland took over the wrestling program in 2014.
Before then, the Bears were regularly on the wrong end of lopsided scores.
Those days are long gone.
Coast Guard, ranked ninth nationally and considered one of the premier programs in New England, led from start to finish on Wednesday in the latest match in the rivalry, posting a 30-12 victory. The Bears have won seven of the last eight meetings.
The Bears had to really earn their seventh dual meet win of the season. A vocal crowd of cadets showed up to support their team.
"They always bring it," senior Paul Detwiler said of Merchant Marine. "I'd say the rivalry is still pretty strong. It's good we got the whole corps out there. It's always fun to have them be loud. They have a good time. It's pretty exciting."
This is one of the Coast Guard's deepest and strongest teams. The Bears have lost only one dual meet and beat nationally-ranked Johnson & Wales on Dec. 10 for the first time in 20 years.
Five wrestlers are ranked in the top 10 nationally, including Chase Randall (10th, 133), Phil Rogers (5th, 165), Tony Ulaszek (third, 149), Coy Spooner (3rd, 197) and Detwiler (3rd, 184).
"It's been a good season," said Detwiler, a two-time All-American. "We have solid coaches. They focus really hard on getting us peaking at the right time. They really pay close attention to individual guys, making sure they focus on what they need to get better at.
"They not only focus on making you a better wrestler, they want you to be a good all-around person in every aspect of your life."
On Wednesday, Coast Guard won the first two matches by forfeit and really battled to add to the team point total.
Ulaszek (8-2), Devin Woodworth (6-2), Detwiler (22-9), Spooner (7-0) all won by decision. Rogers seized control early and easily won by technical fall (16-0) in two minutes, seven seconds.
Now the Bears have some time to prepare for the NCAA Division III Northeast Regionals on Feb. 26-27 in Springfield, Mass.
The Coast Guard coaching staff will have tough decisions to make about picking out a lineup to compete.
The Bears will be taking a strong team to regionals.
"Hopefully, if COVID settles down and we have a normal postseason, we should do pretty well," Detwiler, who's undefeated this season.
