For many Hopkins students, Intersession, with its fluff classes and lax attitude, is a chance to relax, recuperate and regroup for the coming semester. But with a full battery of meets on the docket, the hurting wrestling team had no such luxury.
And it showed.
The Jays have been struggling through the dual meet portion of their season, thanks in large part to their failure to overcome their toughest opponent: the injury bug. Injuries have made Swiss cheese out of the lineup, with the holes patched either by inexperienced freshmen or not at all. As a result, Hopkins is 2-10 in dual meets and 0-3 against the Centennial Conference.
"We haven't been able to put our full lineup out all season," senior co-captain and 141-pounder Marco Priolo said. "Obviously it's a big disappointment."
Three starters were out of the lineup during the Jays' conference opener against Gettysburg on Jan. 11, which the Bullets won 27-15. Sophomore 125-pounder Mike Sumner and freshman 133-pounder Greg Gold were both absent, forcing Hopkins to forfeit the 133-pound match and not wrestle a 125 match (Gettysburg was also missing a 125-pounder). The lightest weight classes continue to take a toll on the Jays. Gold has been injured for most of the year and Sumner has struggled to earn points for the team all season.
But perhaps the most glaring absentee was co-captain and red-shirt senior 174-pounder Dave Kraus. Kraus, though, is no stranger to sitting out; he was red-shirted when an injury cost him his sophomore season. But that doesn't mean it gets easier to sit and watch his team struggle. His replacement at 174, freshman Pete Kavanagh, was pinned in the last match of the day, the tail end of a four-match run that gave Gettysburg the win. Three of those losses came against freshman wrestlers.
Even Kraus' and Sumner's return, however, couldn't put Hopkins over the top against Muhlenberg and Ursinus, two of the Centennial Conference's top teams. The Muhlenberg match began auspiciously before the bottom fell out of the Hopkins effort. Starting with the 165-pound bout, Hopkins reeled off three consecutive wins, including a pin at 165 from freshman Mickey Keane. The Jays were up 13-0 after junior Eric Fishel's major decision at 184, but that was where the Jays' luck ran out. They lost six matches in a row before junior 157-pounder Jim Crumlish put them back in the wins column with a technical fall in the last match of the day. But by then it was much too late. Hopkins 18, Muhlenberg 31.
The Bears were no easier than the Mules. Despite consecutive pins from Fishel and sophomore 197-pounder Tyler Schmidt putting the Jays on top of Ursinus 15-6, Hopkins couldn't keep up the momentum going on to lose 28-18. The last three Blue Jay points were easily the brightest moment of the day. Priolo earned a decision against Ursinus' Tim Hulme giving the Blue Jay his 27th victory of the year. That total, tying the mark Kraus set last year, is believed to be a Hopkins single-season record ("believed to be" because record-keeping in the program's early days was spotty). But the historic mark did not have its full effect on Priolo in the midst of a tough season.
"I'm happy I'm doing well, but it's still a team sport and it frustrates me every day that our best team isn't on the mat," he said.
It wasn't all bad for the Jays, though, as they continued to demonstrate their success in tournament competition.
"We're a better tournament team," Priolo said.
With a few proven stars and a lot of question marks, the Jays are designed for tournaments, proving themselves again on that front with a second-place finish at the Washington & Lee Tournament. Priolo, Fishel and Schmidt all took home top finishes as the Jays cruised to victory over six schools including the conference rival Generals. Only Muhlenberg finished above them, nabbing the top spot with a team score of 86.00. Hopkins accrued a sparkling 77.50.
Luckily for the Jays, their most important competition of the year will also be in the tournament format. The Centennial Conference Tournament is already less than a month away. After finishing up their conference duals season, the Jays will head to Gettysburg to see each Centennial team again. If the wrestlers nursing injuries have time to heal, the team is hoping for better results.
"We still fully expect to win the conference when the tournament comes around," Fishel said. Fishel, too, sees the potential of this chronically-hobbled Blue Jays squad.
"We're coming really close to nationally-ranked teams," he said. "Once we have the full lineup back, we can start beating them."
Hopkins will take to the mat at McDaniel on Wednesday and then head to Virginia for a Saturday contest against Washington & Lee.
