The Hopkins men’s wrestling team competed in a pair of dual meets at Wilkes University’s John Reese Duals on Saturday, Nov. 9. The Blue Jays opened with a 26-15 victory over Oneonta State before getting defeated by Wilkes 28-6. The team’s record is now 2-3 after the split.
Hopkins won four of the first five bouts, which gave them an early lead of 17-3 over Oneonta. The Red Dragons attempted to make a comeback, winning three of the final five bouts. However, the Red Dragon push was not enough, and Hopkins still came out on top with a final score of 26-15.
Junior Paul Bewak led several notable Blue Jay performances. Bewak, wrestling in the 125-pound weight class, scored a second-period pin. Seniors Ray Yagloski, weighing in at 133 pounds, and Henry Stauber at 149 pounds, also helped the Blue Jays clinch an early lead. Sophomore Christian Ostrowski, at 174 pounds, had an 11-10 victory over his opponent. Sophomore Kyle Spangler also did well with a first period pin at 184 to put the match away for Hopkins.
Bewak noted what the team’s strong points are. “As a team we are usually in great shape so we are trying to focus a lot on bettering our technique," he said. "We feel like that is what will make us the best team possible. The meet yesterday showed us that we have a good base to start from but still have a lot of room to improve, mostly in a technique and mat awareness sense. Personally, I would like to go undefeated this year and win NCAA's.”
Yagloski echoed Bewak’s sentiments. “Right now, we are in the early part of our season so we are focused on improving our technique and trying to stay healthy. Ultimately, everything we do is to prepare ourselves for the most important part of our season: the postseason. Personally, I want to be an NCAA All American this year at 133 lbs. I am committed to doing the right things day in and day out to give myself the best chance to make that happen. It's easy to stay on track when you have an amazing support system of coaches, teammates and fans.”
He continued to talk about the meet on Saturday. “We had some success Saturday against Oneonta St. and Wilkes. Again, with it being early in the season, it is great to get competition against a top team like Wilkes to see where we in comparison. All our guys fought hard, but we want to get better each time and be at our best when we get to our finish line, the Conference, Regional and NCAA Championships in February and March.”
“Our motto for this year is ‘Be Big’," Spangler said. “We've had a lot success in recent years by various wrestlers but none seem to get the recognition they deserve. So as a team, our main goal is to promote the team so that people know we exist. Our team looks good moving forward and we are excited to make some more big headlines.”
Bewak had a 6-5 victory to open the match against Wilkes, but the Colonels took the next four bouts to jump to a 13-3 lead early. Junior Welles Sakmar took an 11-5 victory at 165 to make the score 13-6, but Oneonta won the final four bouts before falling to the Jays, 26-15.
“The meet yesterday helped tell us how we are doing as a team,” Samkar said. “I try to take something away from every match, and the meet yesterday showed me where I am doing well and what I need to do in order to achieve my goals.”
Ostrowski had similar thoughts. “This season, as team, we are focusing on winning Conferences. We all work hard everyday to try and obtain that goal,” he said. “We are also trying to send as many individuals to the NCAA tournament as possible, and in practice we try to push each other as teammates to reach that goal.”
Sophomore Evan Krumheur commented on taking advantage of momentum. “Our team this year is looking to capitalize on the momentum we've gained over the last few seasons and continue to improve our status both in the conference and in the national ranks,” he said. “We have played the role of the underdog until now and it's time for us to start competing like a big dog. Saturday we showed signs that our hard work is paying off by defeating our first opponent Oneonta. In this sport you can be humbled quickly however and we were shown that we still have a lot of work to do after our loss to Wilkes in the next match. It's a long season, however, and we'll continue to improve so that we are ready for the big tournaments at the end of the year.”
The Blue Jays’ next match will be at the Doug Parker Invitational in Springfield, Mass. on Nov. 23. The team will look to improve after this early season test against two formidable opponents.
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