Without a doubt, one of the things that makes college sports great is the rivalries. This isn’t lost on Bridgewater State Assistant Coach Fox , who hopes to bring something special to the DIII level here in New England.
“One thing I look at is why is college football so successful? And a [reason] is the tradition and the pageantry,” Maxwell said “Look at Michigan vs. Ohio State or the Iron Bowl (Auburn Vs. Alabama) Those bring people together to watch the games and I want that same environment for our student athletes.”
Bridgewater State is in a unique scenario. All the other sports teams—except for wrestling—at the university compete in the MASAC (Massachusetts State Athletic Conference).Why isn’t wrestling included? Bridgewater State is the lone school in the conference with a wrestling team.
“Football has Massachusetts Maritime Academy, but we don’t really have a rival,” Fox emphasized. “I wanted to give our fanbase and student athletes a rivalry they can have every year and the only team that came to mind was Western New England. They’re the Golden Bears, we’re the Bears, so let’s just make this Massachusetts Bears Cup!”
Fox ran the idea by BSU head coach Frank Camissa and they reached out to Western New England head coach Mike Sugarmeyer and the Massachusetts Bear Cup was born.
“I want this to be like the CyHawk dual in Iowa (Iowa vs. Iowa State). where the whole state comes together. Why not try to have that here?” Maxwell added.
Maxwell is looking to expand the annual event and make every year a more entertaining spectacle than the last.
“I’m trying to solve one of the deeper issues in wrestling which is the lack of promotion—that’s why we are behind,” Fox continued. “Look at Arrowhead in Kansas City or the 12th Man in Seattle. Why can’t we have that? Let's make it loud, let's do that.”
These events can be huge for the schools and community, especially an interstate one. For Maxwell, it’s an opportunity that cannot be missed.
“I think coaches that do the dual meet just roll the mat out,wrestle, and go home. I think they are missing a huge potential market to not just grow the fanbase and the sport.”
Maxwell certainly recognizes the potential and has already invited multiple groups from the community to the event.
“We’ll have Beat the Streets coming down, some high school teams, some youth teams. That’s what it’s all about; we want to enhance the student athlete experience along with it.”
On the Western New England side, Coach Sugarmeyer is very thankful and excited to be a part of such a great event.
“I’d like to thank Coach Camissa and Coach Maxwell for their vision and the work that they have done to create another great opportunity for our student athletes,” Sugarmeyer told The Schwartz Report. “Our guys are excited for another opportunity to compete this weekend at Bridgewater State.”
November 16th, 2:00 PM at Bridgewater State University,
POTENTIAL MATCHUPS
Oct. 24 NEWA Rankings used
125: Sei Dolomengi/Luis Garcia Jr. (BSU) Vs. Clayton O’Connor/Joe Weikel (WNE)
133: Chris Dubey (BSU) Vs. Antonio Intintoli/Austin Mitrosky (WNE)
141: Malcolm Chrispin/Owen Menendez (BSU) Vs. #6 Austin Monteiro/Ayden Cheng (WNE)
149: James Calabrese/Kyle Rhoton (BSU) Vs. Peter Charnley/James Linder (WNE)
157: Jack James/Jonathon Clarke (BSU) Vs. Matt Rodriguez/Colin Carlin (WNE)
165: Nathan Quinones (BSU) Vs. #5 Cam Hines/James Barrett (WNE)
174: Michael Hopkins/Tommy Dicker (BSU) Vs.Nick Baccala/CJ Glaropoulos (WNE)
184: James Grover/Amauris Gomez (BSU) Vs. Michael Bluhm/David Lisk (WNE)
197: Christian Curley (BSU) Vs. Charlie Maloy/Aidan DeLuca (WNE)
285: AJ Ortiz/Michael Mastroianni (BSU) Vs. #8 Spencer Dickinson/Nemo Pettway (WNE)
The Schwartz Report’s Must Watch Match: 141 lbs
Malcolm Cripsin (BSU) Vs. #6 Austin Monteiro (WNE)
This match is truly fitting, Massachusetts vs. Massachusetts. Bridgewater State’s Malcolm Chrispin, a 2022 graduate of Boston Latin Academy, joined the DI Northern Illinois wrestling team for a year before deciding to return to his home state.. He was a round away from placing at the NCAA DIII Northeast Regional in 2024. Austin Monteiro is a graduate of Minnechaug High School where he was a 3x New England Qualifier. Since joining the Golden Bears, he has excelled, placing 8th last year at the Northeast Regional. Monteiro and Chrispin should be the bout of the night.
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