On Saturday, Feb. 13, the Hopkins wrestling team had a memorable showing at the Centennial Championships at McDaniel College.
Before taking to the mats, the Blue Jays stood in seventh in the Centennial Conference, looking to seize a great opportunity. Their season record of 3-3 placed them behind the Conference leaders of Stevens Institute of Technology, Ursinus College and New York University.
“The team’s goals revolved around being offensive and scoring the next point,” freshman Dane Morgan said. “We didn’t want to hold back or be reserved. By being aggressive we could dictate the pace of the match and win.”
With a total of 36 points, the Blue Jays took home fourth place. The previous year warranted a Hopkins fifth place finish.
This strong and collective effort included five finishes in the top four from the youngest to the most experienced veteran Jays.
Evan Krumheuer, the team’s only senior, provided a resilient showing for the Jays in one of his final tournaments at Hopkins, with a fourth place finish in the 125-pound weight class.
Sophomore Tommy Grifa also finished fourth, but in the 157-pound group.
Coming off an impressive performance the week before, junior Alex McLaughlin fell just short of the title, earning second in the 165-pound weight class.
Freshman Isaac Morales continued to improve, providing some young consistency for the Jays with a third place wrestle in the 184 pound weight class.
“I came into this tournament with an aggressive mindset and with the momentum from my success last weekend,” Morales said. “Having our captain, Jared Forman, keep winning his matches right before I wrested helped keep my confidence high and gave me the motivation I needed. I’ve been doing better as the season progresses, thanks to Coach Norris helping me mentally adjust to the college level.”
That balanced distribution reflects the overall composition and interesting dynamic of this year’s team.
“We’ve got a pretty young team this year with four freshmen starting and only one senior, but Jared and Evan have been good role models and continually demonstrated the work ethic we need in order to be successful,” Morales said. The Valentine’s Day weekend proved especially sweet for junior Jared Forman. Forman not only brought home the individual title in the 174-weight class, but made Hopkins history in the process.
With the title, Forman became the 21st Centennial Conference Champion in Hopkins’ wrestling history.
“Leading up to winning the title I was focused on getting better every day,” Forman said. “I used every practice as an opportunity to fix mistakes from the weeks before and just to wrestle tough in general.”
The honors did not stop there since he was also named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler by the Conference. “It’s hard to put the feeling into words, but for lack of a better word, I’d say good,” Forman said. “It’s a nice stepping stone, and I’m very happy with my performance at the tournament. But it is just the first part of the journey. I’m now focused on qualifying to the NCAA tournament.”
With a week to prepare for the upcoming NCAA Regional Championships at Washington & Lee University next Saturday, Feb. 27, the Jays have set their sights on aggression, strength, personal health and constant improvement.
“As regionals get closer we start to look at individual techniques that can help us win the takedown game and score on top, and as a team we try to stay healthy and elevate our cardio,” Morales said. “Mentally, our biggest focus for the team is pushing each other to our limits so we can peak for regionals.”
