Jays complete most successful season in history

Following their success
at the Centennial Conference
championships, Hopkins
wrestling continued
to impress. Freshman Paul
Bewak and junior Reid
Mosquera finished seventh
and eighth, respectively,
at the 2012 NCAA
Division III Wrestling
Championships this past
weekend in La Crosse,
WI. This brought the program's
best season to an
end at 27th place nationally
with 13.0 points.
According to the NCAA
rules, the top eight competition
finishers receive All-
America honors, so both
Bewak and Mosquera knew
of their All-American statuses
before their consolation
quarterfinal matches.
For Mosquera, though,
the successful end was the
result of a long, frustrating
season.
"I had a lot of small injuries
that were just big
enough to keep me off the
mat," said Mosquera, referring
to a sprained MCL
and bruised ribs that prevented
him from competing
for a stretch of time. "It
really hurt [my attempts at]
weight management," he
added, which is vital for
any competitive wrestler.
Bewak alluded to this,
saying that Mosquera was
"injured for 75 percent of
the season. . .[and he] went
through more than anyone
else on the team. [Still, he
is] one of the best wrestlers
I've been able to wrestle
with."
This is emblematic of a
team that "never had a full
lineup" because of injuries,
according to Bewak.
"In the end it worked
out for us, though," Bewak
continued. "And when we
did end up winning conferences,
it was awesome."
The end of the season
marked a turnaround for
the team in general and
Mosquera, in particular,
who started a two-week
regimen of intensive
training leading up to the
NCAA tournament. In the
end, the training paid off,
keeping him healthy and
competitive enough to secure
a historic finish.
Despite the frustrations,
Mosquera seemed
optimistic overall. "The
ending says we have a lot
of potential. . .the injury
aspect is always a concern
and always will be."
Bewak seemed to
agree, saying that the
team should "keep doing
what we've been doing,"
and that, besides the injuries,
everything seems to
be "working well so far."
Besides these few observations,
though, both All-
Americans seem to have
al??ready moved on from
their accomplishments.
Bewak has formed a
simple plan for next year.
"[I'll do] everything
harder and hopefully
have a better tournament
next time," he said. As a
freshman, the five-footfive,
125-pounder performed
incredibly and
will look to improve and
garner All-America honors
again next year. Mosquera
will be a senior,
and the team will also be
returning five other conference
champions.
The most successful
team in program history
will be back next year for
another fantastic season.