Wrestling drops two at home

After two consecutive
wins against Centennial
Conference opponents
Washington & Lee and Gettysburg
and a close loss to
nationally ranked Messiah,
the Hopkins men's wrestling
team was confident.
This past Sunday, they
were put to the test with
a pair of matches against
conference rivals Merchant
Marine and Stevens Tech.
The opening match with
Merchant Marine was a
back and forth affair, as the
Mariners and Blue Jays exchanged
wins over the first
five weight classes. However,
the Mariners took the
next three bouts, after a pin
in the 165 lb match and two
decisions in the 174-pound
and 184-pound matches,
which stretched their lead
to 21-12 with just two bouts
remaining.
The Blue Jays rose to
the occasion, as junior
Reid Mosquera won a
decision at 197-pound
against Merchant Marine's
Tyler Russell.
It all came down to the
heavyweight bout (285 lb)
and freshman wrestler
Evan Johnson.
Hopkins needed a lastsecond
pin in order to
claim the victory, but Merchant
Marine's Dan Wilke
proved elusive enough to
merely lose 4-2 by decision
and secure a narrow win
for his team at 21-18.
The match with Stevens
Tech began just as the Blue
Jays would have liked, as
they jumped out to a 9-3
team lead, after Matt Fusaro
won his second bout
of the afternoon. However,
Stevens Tech retaliated
with three straight wins,
including a dominant
21-9 win by Stevens Tech's
eighth ranked 165-pound
wrestler Joey Favia over
Blue Jay freshman Christian
Salera.
Once again, Mosquera
stepped up with a crucial
5-2 decision over Alex Moreno
and brought the score to
within a point at 13-12.
As frequently occurs in
such close matches, the end
result would be decided in
a winner-take-all heavyweight
bout. The bout
was decided in the final
seconds, as Stevens Tech
285-pound wrestler Tyler
Maher scored two points on
a headlock takedown with
only two seconds remaining,
sneaking out a narrow
5-4 win and securing victory
for the Ducks.
Despite these two losses,
there were several bright
spots for the Blue Jays this
past Sunday afternoon.
Freshman Paul Bewak
went 2-0 on the day, including
winning his first
bout at 133 pounds against
Stevens Tech. Fusaro and
Mosquera also went 2-0
on the day, winning in the
157 and 197-pound weight
classes, respectively.
Junior 141-pounder and
fan favorite Paul Marcello
continued his dominant
form as of late, increasing his
record on the season to 18-3,
one loss from an NCAA Division
I opponent from the
University of Maryland.
He, along with teammates
Bewak, Fusaro and
Mosquera, have been Hopkins'
steadiest competitors,
combining for a 67-19 record.
The Blue Jays hope to
benefit in the long run.
The young team has
seen 13 different wrestlers
compete throughout the
course of this season. While
this is no doubt a reloading
and learning year for the
young Jays, they certainly
hope to become better as
they gain experience over
the next few years.
The Blue Jays will finish
out the regular season traveling
north to a University
of Scranton tournament in
Scranton, PA, to take on
NYU, Muhlenberg and host
University of Scranton this
Sunday afternoon.
A week later, they will
compete in the Centennial
Conference Championships
that will take place at Gettysburg,
PA.
Several members of the
team have hopes of winning
and moving onward towards
the NCAA Wrestling
Championships.
Don't take your eyes
of this Blue Jay wrestling
team as Head Coach Keith
Norris works his magic on
a talented group of young
athletes towards the end
of this season and beyond.
Keep yourself informed
and continue to follow The
News-Letter's coverage of
our wrestlin' Jays!