Schmidt takes first place in Messiah Wrestling Invitational

The Hopkins wrestling team did not open the season as strong as they would have liked. After more than a month of hard work and grueling practices, the team traveled to Messiah College to compete in the Messiah Invitational, their first tournament of the year. Reeling from offseason attrition and fielding a talented but young line-up, the Jays only managed to pull out a sixth place finish in the eight-team competition.

However, despite the final standings, the tournament was not a disappointment for the Jays. Messiah served as a showcase for the talent of some of Hopkins's individual wrestlers who look to dominate the Centennial Conference throughout the season. Senior veteran and team captain Tyler Schmidt took the 197-pound title after a long day of competition. Hopkins also displayed the potential of some of its younger talent, as freshman Michael Testa battled his way through three tough matches to a second place finish. Freshman 184-pounder Hector Cintron also demonstrated that he was a force to be reckoned with, earning a fourth place finish and standing strong as the only wrestler who did not fall to the 184-pound champion by pin.

All eyes were on Schmidt as the competition began. Schmidt won the Invitational in 2007 and as a number one seed, he was heavily favored to repeat his strong performance. In this regard, he did not disappoint. However, although his top seed spot granted him a first round bye in the tournament, which would seem favorable, many wrestlers view this as a disadvantage. Schmidt was forced to watch and wait throughout the first round of competition, struggling to stay loose for his first match.

"I basically waited around for most of the day, not wrestling until about 4:30 after weighing in at around 8:30 in the morning," Schmidt said. "By my first match I was feeling a little rusty, but I think I still wrestled fine." Schmidt is known as a mentally focused wrestler, whose state of mind going into the match can determine whether he dominates or runs into problems. By the time his opening bout began, he was mentally prepared for domination.

Schmidt's first challenge came from Messiah's Tim Hopkins in the semi-final round. With years of training and sheer aggression (a characteristic that makes Schmidt's wrestling style a powerful force) Schmidt dominated Hopkins throughout, finishing with a 5-3 decision and earning him a berth in the finals round.

"I was extremely aggressive and the kid was incredibly nervous wrestling me first," Schmidt said. "So I really just tried to force the issue on him. I ended up taking him down a number of times and I beat him soundly, but I didn't pin him, which is what I wanted."

Schmidt had a surprisingly easier time in the finals, shutting out the number two seed Will Yeo of McDaniel by a score of 6-0 to win the tournament.

"I just really pressed the issue because I knew the wrestler was young and nervous, so I just tried to push his head around, keep him on the mat and make him feel as uncomfortable as humanly possible," Schmidt said. "That benefited me, because I ended up capitalizing on places where he made mistakes. I made openings and really just beat up on these kids."

The Jays were also bolstered by the strong performance of their untested freshman 133-pounder Michael Testa. Testa drew a number two seed in the tournament, but unlike Schmidt, did not receive a first round bye. Since the 133-pound tournament consisted of more wrestlers than the 197-pound class, Testa would have to secure three wins to be able to reach the finals match. This proved to be no major challenge for the freshman wrestler.

"I wanted to go out and wrestle as if it were any other tournament, like in high school," Testa said. "I just wanted to get through that first tournament, get the nerves out of the way and just wrestle my hardest."

Testa won the first match of his collegiate career in one minute and seven seconds when he pinned Tim Sykes of Case Western. Keeping his momentum going, he recorded another pin in his second match against Stefan Chaussard of Waynesburg in four minutes and 17 seconds. In his first two matches combined, he had yet to wrestle the full seven minutes of a regular collegiate match. However, this streak was broken in the semi-finals as Testa went the distance against Rico Borz of Waynesburg, winning with a score of 4-3.

Despite his dominance throughout the tournament, Testa came up short against the number one seed Nick Garber of Waynesburg. A favorite in the tournament, Garber managed to pin Testa in the first 17 seconds of the match.

"I just went out there and I would say the kid took it to me," Testa said. "I was happy with my performance overall despite that in that match I did not wrestle very well. I definitely look to improve from that. I think that's a good place to start and I can only go up from there."

The team looks for a shot at redemption this weekend as they head to Providence, R.I. to compete in the Roger Williams Tournament.