Following a third-place finish in the Doug Parker Tournament at Springfield College, the best in school history, the Cardinal wrestling team is riding high a month into the season. The Cardinals placed third in the 18-team field and are currently ranked 24 in the nation and second in the 14-team New England Wrestling Association (NEWA). Wesleyan’s main competitors at Springfield were Brockport State, Springfield, and Williams, who were all in a three-point race for first place late in the tournament. Williams ended up taking first in the tournament with a score of 136, followed by SUNY-Brockport (133.5) and then Wesleyan with a score of 124.5.
The team was led at Springfield by quad-captains Dan Bloom ’10, who wrestles 125, Greg Hurd ’10 (174), Josh Berkovic ’10 (165), and Dave Bachy ’10 (157). Both Hurd and Bloom dominated their weight classes, going 5-0 to win their brackets. Bloom’s closest match came in the semi-finals, which he won 7-2. Bloom pinned three opponents and won another match by major decision (10-2). Hurd pinned two of his opponents while winning the other three matches by margins of 14, five, and seven points. Bloom and Hurd are two of the main reasons why Wesleyan has broken into the national rankings as a team. In addition to being two-year Doug Parker Tournament champions, Hurd (ninth) and Bloom (10th) are both nationally ranked in their respective weight classes.
Josh Berkovic ’10, who was the runner-up at the NEWA Championships last year, placed third at 165. He had a great performance, barely losing one match in the semifinals 5-3 against Vincent Renault from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, who is ranked eighth in the nation. Kyle Roosa ’13 at 174 and Chris Alvanos ’11 at 133 both placed fourth in their weight class.
“Kyle, or as we like to call him, ‘Roose,’ has quite a motor and will just keep wrestling and wearing his opponents down,” head coach Drew Black wrote in an e-mail newsletter.
Alvanos was one of 37 wrestlers competing in the 133 weight class, in which the competition was fierce. He wrestled seven matches in a single day, an exhausting feat for any wrestler, and finished 5-2.
Dave Bachy ’10 placed fifth at 157, which is a weight class up from last season, in which he competed at 149.
“Dave is one of those guys who will continue to get stronger and stronger as the season unfolds, ” Black wrote. “He will be a big threat again at the New England Championships at his new weight.”
Though he did not place, Dave Amhrein ’12 had strong showing at 197, with one of his losses being a 6-3 decision to the No. 8 wrestler in the country. Vinny deLalla ’11, at 141, pinned the nation’s seventh-ranked wrestler in his first-round match with a fierce headlock.
In addition to the returnees, the Cardinals will also look to get key contributions from a strong freshman class.
“Howard Tobochnik ’13 is a tough freshman out of Michigan,” Black wrote. “He already has six pins and is off to a fast start. Maika Nagata out of Hawaii, Nick Scotto of [New York], Jefferson Ajayi of Ohio, and Gideon Levy of Florida have all performed very well and will have a major impact on this program during their four year tenure.”
The Cardinal wrestlers will compete again on Saturday in the R.I.T. Tournament in Rochester, N.Y.
“The goal here is to win this team tournament and complete a tremendous start to the season,” Black wrote.
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