With two New England titlists and a pair of conference runner-ups returning from last year’s squad, the men’s wrestling team enters the season with high expectations. Reigning NEWA champion Jefferson Ajayi ’13 will be integral to the squad as he is the top-ranked wrestler in all of Division III. Ajayi took home seventh place at the NCAA Championship in 2012 at 184 pounds. Wesleyan also returns its other 2012 NEWA champion, Kyle Roosa ’13. Roosa has won the New England title for two years running at 174 pounds. The two 2012 NEWA runner ups are Joey Schwartz ’14 and co-captain Howard Tobochnik ’13, weighing in at 133 pounds and 149 pounds, respectively.

Wesleyan has a total of six all-NEWA competitors returning from last season with Ryan Sblendorio ’15 taking fifth at 165 pounds and co-captain Nick Scotto ’13 finishing in sixth at 141 pounds. Other notable returning wrestlers are Alex Cannon ’14 (149 pounds), Austin Frank ’15 (285), Jacob Sheffer ’14 (285), and Maika Nagata ’13 (133), while Wesleyan adds 10 new wrestlers to the mix. Five of the newcomers are in the upper two weight classes, and most of the freshmen placed in a state or regional tournament during their final high school careers.

There has been a change of postseason format this year, with the qualifying tournament for NCAA participation broadening to include Owsego, Oneonta, Corland, and Ithaca in addition to the current fourteen NEWA squads. Because of this change, the top-three finishers from each weight class at the Regional tournament will now automatically qualify for the NCAA Championship.

The Cardinals’ coach Drew Black returns for his 15th season as coach of the wrestling squad.  He led Wesleyan to the team’s first NEWA Championship since 1984 and second ever in the 2011-12 season while winning the NEWA Coach of the Year award, the second time in the last three seasons that he has received the award.  Additionally, he has led the Cardinals to their best record (17-2 in 2001-02) and a school-record 11 match win-streak in 2010-11.

The Cardinal wrestling team feels confident about its chances in the upcoming season after being ranked 20th in preseason. The team is just a week and a half away from its first competitive event on Saturday, Nov. 17, at the Doug Parker Invitational.  The weekend before is a scrimmage at the Roger Williams Tournament, which will provide a good warm-up for the Cardinals.