Black Earns 100th Wesleyan Win over Weekend

Following the men’s basketball game Saturday afternoon, the wrestling mats were rolled out onto the gym floor for a match between the home-standing Cardinals and the WPI Engineers. Wesleyan made short work of WPI on their own court and gave the fans a show to make up for the basketball teams disappointing loss to Middlebury. Wesleyan got 5 pins out of its lineup on Saturday and beat the Engineers 40-12.

With only one day of rest, the team hit the mats again on Sunday for a triple-header against Coast Guard, the University of Southern Maine, and Johnson & Wales University. The Cardinals continued to dominate, taking down Coast Guard 33-9. This was a landmark win for 11-year coach Drew Black, who hit triple digits in career wins by winning that match. The athletic department, fans and, most importantly, the team were all honored to be a part of Black’s 100th win.

Chris Mixon ’09 had been on a losing streak and noted that he was thankful that Black stuck with him. Mixon ended up bouncing back with two wins Sunday.

“Coach Black made a difficult choice and it worked out,” Mixon said. “Those types of match-time decisions are a large reason why he has accumulated over 100 wins in his last 11 years coaching.”

Shortly thereafter, and before any celebrating could entail, Coach Black scooped up his 101st win against Southern Maine in another well wrestled match by the Cardinals, 25-16. After a 3-0 start to the weekend, Wesleyan felt confident Sunday afternoon going into a match against the Johnson & Wales Wildcats, who are ranked 21st nationally. The match was a thriller, but the Cards dropped their first match of the weekend by just three points, 21-18. With the 3-1 record on the weekend, the men are having a solid season on the mats.

“Making weight two days in a row was no fun,” said Zach Rolfe ’10. “But 3-1 is pretty good.”

The Cards got stellar wrestling out of Greg Hurd ’10, who won all four of his weekend matches, improving his dual-match record to 10-0 and improving his overall record to 25-2. This leaves him ranked 10th nationally in his weight class of 174 pounds. Likewise, teammate Dan Bloom ’10 won four matches this weekend, improving his record to 9-0 in dual meetings and 25-1 overall, also leaving him ranked 10th nationally in his weight class of 125 pounds. Dave Bachy ’10 was the only other Cardinal to achieve a four-win weekend, and has been attributing his success to a newly grown mustache.

“I’m only getting better as my mustache gets thicker,” Bachy said, whose mustache has recently earned him the nickname “The Mustached Menace.”

Bachy put his talent, and mustache, on full display against JWU, toying with his opponent in an effort to gain points for the team. He had the upper hand all match and, while resetting, the opponent seemed to be stalling. Bachy responded by running to the center and clapping his hands at the opponent–much to the amusement of fans.

Another team member who stood out was Chris Alvanos ’11, who had an important pin to keep Wesleyan in the match at a crucial moment.

“A lot of guys like Alvanos stepped up and did really well,” Bloom said. “We’re looking forward to wrestling again this weekend and getting revenge against Springfield.”

After a solid weekend, the Cardinals will head to Western New England College for a Friday night match and then return to the Freeman Athletic Center for another tripleheader against Springfield, R.I.C and M.I.T on Saturday. The team is excited for a shot at payback against Springfield, which defeated the Cards 23-11 on January 18th.