For all the Blue Jays, it was a must-win match. It was a chance to vault the school into the middle of the standings. It was an opportunity to make a splash before the conference tournament. For sophomore 197-pounder Tyler Schmidt, though, it was more than that.
It was personal.
After getting their first Centennial Conference win against McDaniel earlier in the week, the wrestling team won a spectacular nail-biter against Washington & Lee by a score of 18-17 last Saturday, thanks in no small part to Schmidt. He knew from the very beginning that the pressure was on. When it was announced that the heavyweight bout would be the first of the day, he knew that his match was going be the last. These two teams had met just two weeks before when the Jays topped the Generals by just two-and-a-half points at the Washington & Lee Invitational Tournament, so everyone knew it was going to be close. But they didn't know how close. And they didn't know that the final, deciding match would come straight out of a movie.
"I was wrestling my practice partner from high school," Schmidt said. "It was an exciting grudge match."
By the time the meet got to that point, the score was 17-15 in the Generals' favor. So first we have to get there.
Sophomore heavyweight Vince Domestico kicked things off with a tough match of his own. With the unusual job of opening the meet as a 285-pounder, he had to set the tone. But he was more than happy to do so.
"I prefer to wrestle at the very beginning or the very end," he said. "It's more exciting that way."
He was up against John Christopher, a wrestler he had beaten last year by only a point, 7-6 the final. This year was no different as Domestico set the one-point victory trend with a 4-3 decision.
Moving to the low end of the weight spectrum, the Jays needed every point they could get. They were forfeiting 133, an automatic six-point hole, so they desperately needed sophomore lightweight Mike Sumner to do as much as he could to offset the blow. His match wasn't pretty -- a 17-2 loss by technical fall -- but the point he saved by staying off his back was yet another key to an 18-17 victory.
"I would consider Mike Sumner's match at 125 the deciding match," Domestico said.
The teams split the next four matches, with senior 141-pounder and co-captain Marco Priolo continuing his record-setting season with his 29th win. But after the 165-pound match, the Generals had a 17-9 lead. At this point, though, the Jays had to smile. The big guns were on their way.
Red-shirt senior and co-captain Dave Kraus and junior Eric Fishel brought Hopkins back into the win column at 174 and 184, respectively. Each nabbed a heart-stopping victory, two more one-pointers with the whole meet in the balance. In Kraus' match, that point was the only one scored by either wrestler; he beat Jesup Sataloff, 1-0.
And then it was down to Schmidt. He was up against his high school drilling partner, Kirk Adamson, a year Schmidt's senior, the guy with whom Schmidt spent his entire grappling youth. What could he do against someone who knew his every move, his every strength and weakness? What could his strategy be?
"I just had to try and beat the living crap out of him," Schmidt said.
Clearly Schmidt had the cerebral edge. He had the strategy and he executed. Adamson couldn't muster a point. In yet another match that went the distance (there wasn't a pin for either side all day), Schmidt took the win, 5-0. Washington & Lee 17, Hopkins 18.
"I never been in a situation where I had the clinching match before," Schmidt said. "It was pretty awesome. I had a great time."
He sealed a monster win for the Jays, breathing life into a team that had lost 10 dual meets, and all this on the heels of topping conference foe McDaniel, 24-18. The Jays beat the Green Terror for the second year in a row, no small accomplishment after losing to them 11 years in a row.
Schmidt was a hero then, too, earning a first-period pin to put the match out of reach. Also enjoying perfect 2-0 weeks were Priolo, Fishel, Kraus and freshman 149-pounder James Gettinger. The two victories moved Hopkins 2-3 in conference (4-10 overall). The win over the Generals was also a confidence-building upset, as Washington & Lee beat Gettysburg, a Centennial team that felled the Jays.
Riding a winning streak, Hopkins can enjoy a rest until heading to Hoboken, N.J. on Feb. 10 to close out the dual meet season against Stevens Tech and the United States Merchant Marine Academy Kings Point. With so much time to recuperate and so much momentum, the Jays are looking to make a mark before the Centennial Conference Tournament, which starts Feb. 17 in Gettysburg, Pa.
"I think we'll beat them both," Domestico said.
A strong performance against the two Centennial opponents could bode well for the Jays' tournament seeding. Hopkins, much better in the tournament format than at duals, could do some real damage.
Now, on the heels of such a rocky season, they all have something to prove.
