The Hopkins wrestling team placed eighth out of 17 schools at the NCAA East regional in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. on Sunday. Wilkes University, Ursinus College and Delaware Valley College made up the top three, with 106.5, 105.5 and 102.5 points respectively. The Blue Jays turned in a respectable 53.0 points.
On an individual level, the Blue Jays were bolstered by the performances of junior Paul Bewak, who won the 125-pound title, and senior Henry Stauber, who was the runner-up in the 141-pound weight class. Bewak and Stauber each qualified for automatic bids to the upcoming NCAA Division III Championships, as all the top three finishers in their weight classes do.
Stauber will be making the trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 14 to compete in the NCAA Championships for the second time in his career. Bewak will wrestle in the Championships in Iowa for the third time in his three-year career.
The action began Sunday for Stauber with a 7-3 victory against Stephen Schneider of the College of New Jersey and a 13-5 trouncing of Gettysburg’s Matt Spano in the quarterfinals. A rematch of the Centennial Conference championship match was played out in the semifinals, as Stauber defeated Eli Gaylor of Ursinus with a pin in the second round.
In the championship battle, Stauber took on NYU’s Brandon Jones, the fifth-place finisher of the 2013 NCAA Championships. A third period takedown by Jones to take a 7-4 lead would be the difference in the match. Stauber’s second-place finish will be enough to vault him to the national meet in two weeks.
Bewak, ranked second in the nation, improved his record this year to an impressive 32-1 by defeating Kevin Corrigan from the College of New Jersey 10-6 in the quarterfinals and Guesseppe Rea of Wilkes College in the semis after a first-round bye. In the championship round, Bewak squared off with Michael Mui of the Merchant Marine Academy. A first-period takedown and a second-period reversal buoyed Bewak to an impressive 7-0 victory.
Only a junior, Bewak is a mere two victories from tying the all-time Hopkins wrestling career victory record and could potentially do so at the NCAA Championships.
“It’s really exciting to be so close to the record, it will feel amazing to know that my name will forever be a part of the program”, Bewak said.
He described his prospects for the NCAA Championships. “I feel really confident going into NCAA’s. I’ve proved to myself throughout the year that I can beat highly ranked wrestlers and I feel good health-wise so it should be a really fun tournament,” Bewak said.
Beyond strong showings from Bewak and Stauber, the Blue Jays got a fourth place finish from senior Ray Yagloski in the 133-pound weight class, who posted a 4-2 record on the day but finished one spot away from qualifying for nationals. Yagloski’s career as one of the great wrestlers in Hopkins history came to an end on Sunday. Third in school history in victories with 93 and first in total matches with 143, Yagloski’s consistent success will be missed.
Junior Christian Salera in the 157-pound weight class finished in sixth place on the day. He dropped a tight overtime match 11-9 in the consolation bracket semi-finals. Fellow junior Evan Johnson (197) won two matches on the day, and his only losses came to the eventual champion and third-place finisher in his weight class. Senior Duncan Crystal (149), sophomore Kyle Spangler (184), and freshman Jared Forman (174) each won a match on the day, earning points and contributing to the team’s 8th place finish.
In an extremely tough regional, Hopkins’ 8th place finish is very respectable. Moving forward, though, the team hopes to learn from their mistakes.
“The team definitely wanted to have more qualifiers but our region is extremely tough so it was a hard-fought day for everyone. A lot of matches were one move away from having totally different outcomes, but overall everyone wrestled great and we are ready to fix our mistakes and get ready for next year,” Bewak said.
Bewak and Stauber will continue to train in anticipation of the upcoming NCAA Championships.
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