NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Freshman Joseph Hennessey (Boonville, N.Y.) picked up three victories for the Norwich University wrestling team on Saturday as the Cadets notched a 24-18 victory over Western New England University in Plumley Armory. 

Norwich also competed against No. 3-ranked Johnson & Wales (R.I.) University and the No. 24-ranked U.S. Coast Guard Academy, falling to both institutions by scores of 38-9 and 42-11, respectively. The Cadets came from behind to edge Western New England, 24-18, to improve to 4-4 in head-to-head bouts this season. 

Competing at 184 pounds, Hennessey broke a 15-15 deadlock against Western New England, pinning his opponent in only 1:57 to create a 21-15 advantage for the Cadets. He would later add a technical fall against Coast Guard before pinning his Johnson & Wales opponent in 2:40, collecting a total of 17 team points on the day. 

Senior Benjamin Swanson (Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.) opened the Western New England match with a technical fall over Taylor Pfaff before senior Pat McCurdy (Woodstown, N.J.) secured an 11-3 major decision victory at 174. Sophomore Steve Briganti (Trumbull, Conn.) collected a sudden victory at the heavyweight classification, earning three important points in his team's victory. 

Sophomore Jacob Forsman (Voorhees, N.J.) won a 5-2 decision over Dominick Salvatore of Johnson & Wales at the 133-pound classification, earning three points. Hennessey's six-point pin rounded out the scoring for the Cadets against the third-ranked Division III program in the nation. 

In the neutral-site bouts, Coast Guard was able to dispatch Western New England by a 52-0 margin but in the tilt between both nationally-ranked opponents, Johnson & Wales came out with a hard-fought 26-10 win. The Wildcats also collected a head-to-head victory over Western New England in the middle set of matches on the afternoon. 

The Cadets hit the road Wednesday, Jan. 18, taking on the host Pride from Springfield College at 7 p.m.