Greg Hurd ’10 finished the season a perfect 16-0 in dual matches this weekend, going 2-0 on the weekend by trouncing the 174-pounders from Oneonta State College (8-3) and Williams (11-1). Hurd’s accomplishments provided the silver lining to a tough weekend for the wrestling team, which fell 18-17 to Oneonta State and 24-13 to Williams College.

Hurd entered the weekend ranked eighth in the country in his weight class and ran his overall record to an outstanding 31-2 with the victories.

Also entering the weekend ranked eighth in his 125-pound weight class was Dan Bloom ’10. Bloom had previously lost only one bout—a tough loss against M.I.T. a few weeks back—entering the weekend’s matches. Bloom had a 1-1 weekend, defeating his competitor from Oneonta State 10-2 while falling to his counterpart from Williams, whom he had defeated earlier this year, 7-2. Bloom closed out the dual match season with an impressive 12-2 record while going 28-3 overall.

The match against Oneonta was a very close one throughout. The Cardinals and Red Dragons went back and forth throughout the match. After one squad pulled ahead, the other would come right back to even things up. The closest match of the day was won by Oneonta’s 141-pounder, who was able to pin Vin deLalla ’11 in an overtime thriller. Winners for Wesleyan against Oneonta included Chris Mixon ’09, Josh Berkovic ’10 and Dave Bachy ’10, as well as Hurd and Bloom. The final score of the match was 18-17 in favor of Oneonta.

Facing Williams in a NESCAC showdown, the Cardinals were not able to keep it as close as the Ephs were able to pull away slowly, winning the match by a 24-13 count. Winners for Wesleyan against Williams included Mixon, Dan Conroy ’11 and Chris Alvanos ’11 in addition to Berkovic and Hurd. With his two wins on the afternoon, Berkovic improved to 27-8 overall and finished 14-2 in duals.

Wesleyan ended dual match competition with a solid 9-6-1 record, one that includes impressive wins over Trinity, WPI, Western New England, M.I.T. and Springfield. The lone tie came in a tight match with Rhode Island College on Jan. 31.

The Cardinals next take the mat on Sunday at the NEWA Junior Varsity Championships, which will be hosted by Springfield. The NEWA individual championships will take place at Springfield the following weekend.