In the final weeks of the wrestling season, the Cardinal mat men headed into the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) tournament riding the momentum from knocking off two nationally ranked teams, including Williams, a couple of weeks ago.
The starting squad trekked up to Gorham, Maine, where three sophomores earned all-New England honors, a strong indicator of good things to come for Wesleyan wrestling.
Dan Bloom ’10 finished fourth in the 125-pound weight class, but not before being disqualified with about one minute left in the third period of a match that he was winning 11-7.
Bloom was knocked in the head midway through the second period. After he received another blow to the head and lost consciousness for a few seconds, the referee called the match and decided that the strike was unintentional, handing Bloom the loss by injury default.
“It was a really tough tournament,” Bloom said. “A lot of us got tough draws and caught some tough breaks, but three sophomores placed, and we’re a team with a lot of young wrestlers. That bodes well for the future.”
There were a lot strong competitors that lost in the first round and entered the consolations, creating unexpected match-ups for the Cardinals. John Gottfried ’09 and Zach Rolfe ’10 both fell short of winning a match, dropping two decisions each.
Josh Berkovic ’10 finished the tournament with a 2-3 record and a sixth-place finish in the 165-pound weight class. A 2-2 mark earned Greg Hurd ’10 fourth place at 174 pounds. Hurd went 18-7 on the season, including his dual match and tournament records.
Wesleyan also produced great results at the NEWA Junior Varsity.
“Coach [Drew] Black told us that this is the future of our wrestling team,” said Grant Giordano ’11.“It was important to end the year well and place at this [tournament] so we can come back next year as starters.”
Giordano went 5-1 on the day, placing third at 157 pounds after losing to the champion in the final round in a close match, 5-4.
“I hit some moves I was working on, and it built confidence for next year,” Giordano said.
Giordano was joined by a pack of Cardinal wrestlers in earning top place finishes. Damian Privitera ’11 took home second at 184 pounds. At 133 pounds, Bryant Jiravisitcul ’11 and Seth Rosen ’10 picked up second and fourth, respectively. With two wins and one loss, Nick Matayoshi ’11 pocketed a third-place finish in the 125-pound weight class. Out of the eight wrestlers that traveled to the NEWA Junior Varsity Championships in Springfield, Mass., five brought honors home.
The 2007-2008 Cardinal wrestling campaign was one of clutch victories and stellar performance.
Twelve out of the 23 wrestlers who competed this season finished with winning records of .500 or better. Wesleyan had big wins over Coast Guard, Worcester Polytech and SUNY Oneonta. The victory over Little Three rival Williams came down to the last match, capping the Cardinals’ 8-8 dual match record in dramatic style.
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