By TARIQ OMER Staff Writer
The Hopkins wrestling team was in action on Saturday, Nov. 21 in Springfield, Mass. At the Doug Parker Invitational at Springfield Technical Community College (STCC), the Blue Jays churned out a solid effort, placing ninth out of the 18 teams at the competition. Hopkins totaled 62.5 points en route to their ninth place finish, while Williams College (139 points), STCC (127 points), East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania (92.5 points) and Wesleyan University (90.5 points) finished second, third and fourth, respectively. The Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks won the invitational with 162 points.
Hopkins had individual successes, with some Jays placing highly in their respective competitions. Sophomore Lucas Escobar, who ended up being Hopkins’ top placer, finished second overall player at the 141 weight class.
Escobar opened the competition strongly as he posted an 11-2 win over freshman Victor Guzman of the STCC Rams.
He then went on to grab a second victory in his bout against freshman Max Nauta of the Centenary College Cyclones, winning 14-8. Moving on to the semifinals, Escobar found himself matched up with junior Marcus Iwama of the Williams College Purple Cows, and he secured his place in the finals with a close win of 7-5. In the final match, Escobar was matched up against the East Stroudsburg Warrior freshman Dylan Nace. Nace was quick and found an opening in the first period at the 2:40 mark to win the match by fall.
Blue Jay senior Evan Krumheuer contributed to the team score with a third place finish, tallying in at the 125 position. This placing was just a week removed from his second place finish at the Ursinus Fall Brawl.
In the first round, Krumheuer was quick and only needed 1:42 to win his first match with a pin on freshman Brian LaValley of the American International College Yellow Jackets. He was then able to advance into the semifinal round via back-to-back consecutive wins against his competition. However, in his semifinal match, he was defeated by the top-seeded junior Rob Murray of the Ducks in a 7-2 fashion. Murray would go on to eventually become the overall champion. Due to his loss, Krumheuer was moved into the consolation bracket, where he found more success.
On the back of a pair of wins, one of which was a 7-3 victory over freshman Dylan Nuttal of the Bridgewater State University Bears, Krumheuer was able to secure a third place finish on the day at the 125 position.
Blue Jay sophomore Christian Vallis was able to contribute a 2-2 record at the 133 position. Both of his victories came via technical fall. Freshman Nicholas Piwonka posted a 2-2 record from the 157 position, with his losses coming against the third and fifth-place finishers. Junior Jared Forman went 2-2 at the 165 position with wins coming via decision and major decision. Freshman Miles Gilliam went 2-2 at the 174 position, with wins coming via technical fall and decision. Freshman Isaac Morales had a record of 2-2 at the 184 position, with victories coming via fall and major decision. The Jays will be back in action this coming Saturday, Dec. 5, when they will travel to York, Pa. to compete in the New Standard Corporation Invitational.
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