Wrestling kicks off season

Sophomores 285 Karol Gryczynski and 185 Tim Wagner led the Johns Hopkins wrestling team to a ninth place finish at the Roger Williams University Invitational Nov. 10 in Bristol, RI. The Blue Jays finished the tournament with 58.5 points.

Both Gryczynski and Wagner qualified for the championship finals in their respective classes, but both finished second. Gryczynski lost 0-1 to Greg Walker of MIT and Wagner lost 11-12 to Scott Koser of the United States Coast Guard Academy.

The ninth place finish was an improvement for Johns Hopkins from the 11th place finish in the tournament last year

"Even though we did better than we did last year in the tournament, we are not where we want to be," wrestling coach Kirk Salvo said. "We have a lot of young guys with talent, but we need to pick it up if we want to compete for the top spot in the [Centennial] conference."

The Blue Jays opened this season placing seventh in the Messiah College Tournament Nov. 3 in Harrisburg, PA. Freshman 157 Chris Myers led the Blue Jays going 4-1 and placing third in his weight class. Gryczynski and freshman 149 Reno Reitmayr both finished 2-2 in the tournament.

Despite respectable finishes in its first two tournaments, Johns Hopkins is looking for more productivity and success as the season progresses.

"Most of the team is made up of freshmen and sophomores who are beginning to get used to college wrestling," senior captain 174 Mike Halchuk said. "This year we have the most potential that we've had in years. With each practice and match, the team is getting more experience and becoming stronger."

Salvo in his third year as Johns Hopkins coach brings the Blue Jays his years of experience and knowledge fro mhis days as a competitive wrestler at Brown University. He is an active part of practices, instructing each player on different techniques and constantly evaluating and challenging his players.

"[Salvo] is one of the reasons that people are here working hard," Halchuk said. "He works hard to keep us focused on each match, always pointing out ways for us to improve. He is one of the reasons that we are competitive in the conference."

Because 23 of the 28 Blue Jays are either freshmen or sophomores, Johns Hopkins will most likely be hindered by a lack of experience.

"Wrestling in college has a whole different atmosphere than it does in high school wrestling," freshman 125 Jason Suslavich said. "Most of the college athletes wrestled all four years in high school, so instead of expecting to get by easily in the first couple of rounds, you have to really be prepared to give everything in those matches. There are no easy matches anymore."

Amidst the incoming freshman wrestlers was Johns Hopkins' first female wrestler 125 Lisa Bisers. Despite being the only female, Bisers feels no different than any other Blue Jay.

"I've been wrestling since fourth grade," Bisers said. "The competition is definitely more intense on the college level, but I am not treated any differently from the other wrestlers. All the guys are really accepting and mature about me being on the team."

Bisers has not competed in match play this season, but is expected to compete after Thanksgiving. Even though she competes during the regular season, her main focus is the woman's wrestling circuit during the summer.

But despite having a different focus, Bisers still works hard practicing and conditions with the team, hoping to be a contributing force to the team.

"She is tough and she means business every time she's in the ring," Salvo said. "She's a wrestler and this is a wrestling team so she belongs here."

Johns Hopkins will next travel to Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Nov. 17 to compete against Wilkes, York, Baptist Bible, and Centenary.