The Hopkins wrestling team squared off against Stevens Tech and the Merchant Marine Academy this past Saturday, pulling through with a 1-1 record against their opponents on the mats. The meet was held away from the Blue Jays home turf in Hoboken, N. J.
While the Hopkins team defeated the Stevens Tech Ducks in a respectable victory of 27-22, the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) proved superior to the Blue Jays, winning by a very narrow margin of 24-22. This loss did not exactly come as a trifling occurrence to the Hopkins wrestlers, who had made less-than-first mates out of the Merchant Marine Academy last year and expected to do so once more with ease this year.
"Last year we pretty much rolled over them and I think some of us expected a repeat," sophomore 133-pounder Mike Sumner said. "But we got caught in some bad positions."
The Merchant Marine Academy team, hailing from King's Point, N. Y. and aptly named the Mariners, started off the match trailing the Blue Jays and looking for a way to rack up some points. After four straight losses to the Hopkins wrestlers, including a pin by Hopkins senior 141-pounder Marco Priolo, the Mariners finally got riled up enough to take back the match and finish it with a victory.
Although the Hopkins team was still reeling from its unexpected loss, the Blue Jays managed to channel this disappointment into productive energy for their bout against their Stevens Tech opponents.
Still feeling a little dejected, the Blue Jays began their battle with Stevens Tech a little slow, but things soon turned around.
"Having lost to them [Merchant Marine] we were ready for Stevens, who were also a lot better," Sumner said.
Even though at one point in the day the score dipped as low as 22-9, with Stevens in the lead, Hopkins rallied for a victory. This turnaround was partly due to an impressive pin from junior 184-pounder Eric Fishel as well as a decisive victory by team captain and senior 285-pounder Jon Freeman.
Wrestling meets are scored with the following method: a minor decision garners three points, a major decision four points, a technical fall five points, and a pin awards the athlete with six points. The pin, the most difficult and most rewarding feat, is called when one man is able to secure the other man's shoulder blades to the mat for a complete second. Major decisions are matches ending with one participant eight or more points ahead of the other, and minor decisions involve a difference of fewer than eight points. Technical falls are more complete victories, called when a man gets fifteen points ahead of his opponent.
For Freeman, a senior and the team captain, the win was somewhat symbolic. Although he has wrestled for Hopkins for the past four years, he has only been available to wrestle one conference match due to a series of setbacks and injuries. But after recently winning a wrestle-off for the heavyweight class, he will be battling in another conference match, to round out his Hopkins wrestling career triumphantly.
The next objective of the Blue Jays is to tackle is the Centennial Conference Championships, held this weekend at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pa. There they will be facing off against another nine teams, including Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, Gettysburg, McDaniel, Muhlenberg, Swarthmore, Ursinus and Washington Colleges.
The Blue Jays aren't about to be finished with the season yet, however. Among the Hopkins team are many contenders for Centennial Conference recognition. Priolo, this year setting a Hopkins record for single- season wins, will surely be a favorite at the Conference Championships.
Senior 174-pounder David Kraus, who won the conference title at his weight class last year, is also a highly-touted competitor. Fishel and Freeman are two more trump cards Hopkins is holding up its sleeve.
If all of these hopefuls live up to their potential on the mat, then perhaps the Jays can salvage their disappointing season.
