The Hopkins wrestling team split its matches in its last Centennial Conference dual meet portion of its season on Saturday. The Blue Jays were beaten by 23rd-ranked Ursinus 27-9 and then defeated Muhlenberg 28-10, giving the Jays a 3-5 Centennial Conference record on the season.
In their last regular season matches at Hopkins, seniors Paul Bewak and Welles Sakmar won both of their matches at 125 and 165, respectively. Both Bewak and Sakmar have earned All-American honors as Blue Jays. Bewak defeated Chris Donaldson of Ursinus 2-1, and Jaryd Flank of Muhlenberg 8-2. Sakmar beat Gnobela Seri of Ursinus 5-4 and Muhlenberg’s Jim Coiley 9-0.
Sophomore Jared Forman was the third Jay to win both of his matches, defeating Ursinus’s Cody Richmond 5-2 and pinning Jake Gordon of Muhlenberg in 4:48. His win closed the gap between Hopkins and Ursinus to 15-9, with three matches remaining, but the Bears ultimately prevailed after winning two of the matches by decision and the last with a pin.
“It’s getting toward the end of the season, and the techniques that I’ve been working on all year are finally coming together,” Forman said. “I felt confident going into the matches against two solid wrestlers. The first match was close and relatively slow, but I scored two takedowns, which are something that I’ve been working on this year, so showing improvement in this area is huge for me. The second match was more one-sided, as I ended up catching my opponent in a throw and pinning him.”
After the loss against Ursinus, Hopkins was able to defeat Muhlenberg 28-10. Freshman Christian Vallis was defeated by Muhlenberg’s Mark Guttierez 5-2, sophomore Kory Johnson was defeated by Muhlenberg’s Ian Gimbar 17-3, and Muhlenberg’s Lenny Smith defeated sophomore Ellis Flannery 5-2.
Besides those three losses, the Jays won every other match against Muhlenberg. Freshman Connor Joyce beat Mule Anthony Calatoni 9-2. Freshman Tommy Grifa defeated Muhlenberg’s Anthony Ware 4-3. Senior Christian Salera defeated Muhlenberg’s Che Chengsupanimit in a technical fall 19-4 (7:00). Sakmar defeated Mule Jim Coiley 9-0, and senior Evan Johnson knocked off Muhlenberg’s Zach Goldrosen 9-1.
The Hopkins wrestling team will travel to McDaniel on Saturday, Feb. 14, to take part in the 2015 Centennial Conference Wrestling Championships.
