The Cardinals started the final month of the season 1-2 with a decisive win over Western New England and losses to Williams and host Oneonta.
Wesleyan defeated WNEC by a 31-19 score before losing to Oneonta 27-21 and narrowly losing to Williams 19-18. The two losses dampened the team’s spirits, despite only falling by a combined seven points to Oneonta and Williams.
“I think we have definite potential, but we still aren’t winning,” said Chris Mixon ’09. “We can’t get anywhere until Ls start becoming Ws.”
Once again, several younger grapplers were team standouts. John Gottfried ’09 posted two pins at the 197-pound weight class and John Wildes ’08 came away with two victories, including a pin, at 133 pounds. The most impressive and surprising feat of the day came from Drew Marvin-Smith ’08 at 165 pounds, who burst into success by winning three matches, including two pins, and 18 of the team’s total points for the afternoon. Confidence seemed to be the cure for Marvin-Smith, who tenaciously attacked each of his three opponents.
This series of matches marked the end of the dual match season and the beginning of the tournaments, including the NECCWA Regional Tournament, which will be held at Wesleyan on Feb. 18 and 19.
The Wesleyan wrestlers hope to place high enough, both individually and as a team, to send wrestlers to the D-III National Championships, an honor bestowed to only the ten weight class winners of the NECCWA and three at-large wrestlers. The D-III championships are truly a cream-of-the-crop event with wrestling hotbeds such as Pennsylvania and Iowa often dominating the competition. Wesleyan’s wrestlers will have to win out on the 18th and 19th to have a shot at joining this illustrious crowd.
Emotions are running high this week as everyone on the team focuses on succeeding when it matters most and also looks forward to the end of a grueling season of grappling. A week and half from now the season will be over, and the team wants to finish strong and then enjoy a restful spring.
“We all love the sport and have to buckle down before our season ends,” said Tomi Uyehara ’08. “The spring will be fun, but what we need now is a commitment to wrestling and to real success.”
Leave a Reply