If there's anything to be learned from the sixth-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers' Super Bowl season, it's this: the end of the season is the only part that matters. The Steelers won the last four games of the regular season to barely clinch a spot in the playoffs and then amazingly rattled off three-straight road victories to get to the championship game in Detroit.
The Hopkins wrestling team must have been paying attention. With two victories against Centennial foes Stevens Tech and the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) on Saturday, the Blue Jays finished their season with five consecutive wins.
The Jays will host the Centennial Conference Championships this Saturday, and their 8-7 overall record belies their recent success on the mats.
"I was real happy our performance. We had a strong showing by the whole team this weekend," Head Coach Keith Norris said. "I hope to keep that momentum rolling into the Centennial Conference Championship this weekend at Hopkins."
Hopkins finished the season with a 5-2 Centennial record, with the two losses coming against Ursinus and Muhlenberg, two of the top teams in the conference. The following week, the Blue Jays pulled off a blowout win against last-place Gettysburg to start their winning streak. After the win against Gettysburg, the Jays won a thriller at home against McDaniel, a team that they hadn't beaten in over ten years.
In terms of morale, the win over McDaniel was definitely a turning point for Hopkins.
"I'd say we are one of the hottest teams in the conference right now, coming off two decisive wins and closing the year with a winning record," junior 133-pounder Jimmy Van Daniker said. "We've put in a lot of hard work since early September and with the season winding down, this is where it all comes out and we get rewarded."
Against Stevens Tech, the Jays started off with a forfeit win by freshman 125-pounder Michael Sumner, and then Van Daniker won a major decision over Mark Bistis to put Hopkins ahead, 10-0.
The Blue Jays then got another two wins by junior 141-pounder Marco Priolo and sophomore 149-pounder Jim Crumlish to jump out to a 17-0 lead. Hopkins suffered losses in the 157- and 165-pound weight classes, but then got three straight wins by senior 174-pounder Dave Kraus, sophomore 184-pounder Eric Fishel and freshman 197-pounder Tyler Schmidt. Hopkins lost by forfeit in the heavyweight division to finish out the match with a 29-15 victory.
The Jays got an even more impressive win against USMMA later in the day, winning every weight class except heavyweight in the decisive 45-6 victory.
Hopkins started off the match with another forfeit in the 125-pound class and another major decision by Van Daniker. Priolo won by forfeit, and then Crumlish pinned USMMA's 149-pounder Anthony Day just 1:25 into the match to win by fall. The Jays got another six points from freshman 157-pounder Avi Dunn, who pinned Matt Williams in just 44 seconds.
After Floyd won by forfeit, Hopkins received two shutouts from Kraus and Fishel, which put the Blue Jays ahead, 42-0. Schmidt got the last win for the Jays on the day, and after junior heavyweight Jonathan Freeman was pinned, the final score of the meet was 46-6.
"I think it's been our best year in the conference since I've been here," Van Daniker said. "We have a lot of young and veteran talent which is going to make us even better next year."
Adding to the Blue Jays recent momentum will be the fact that they are hosting the Centennial Conference Championships this Saturday.
"Everyone is really excited about hosting the conferences at Hopkins this year," said Van Daniker. "I think we will feed off the crowd energy at our home gym, similar to the way we did in our upset of McDaniel."
Hopkins has several wrestlers sitting atop the Centennial rankings in their weight class, most notably Priolo and Kraus, who both have 6-1 conference records, and Fishel and Schmidt who are both 5-2.
"I believe, and the coaches do as well, that we have five or six legitimate shots at individual titles," Van Daniker said.
The conference championship tournament begins at 10 a.m. at Goldfarb Gymnasium.
