Well, we had an up and down day on Saturday, meaning we started way up, and finished way down.
First match was against Gettysburg College, a Centennial Conference rival that we had beaten 7 straight times. We knew we were in for a tough match as we were dealing with several injuries and one starter out of the lineup due to illness. Our young guys got the job done starting us out with a 17-0 lead with only 4 matches and 4 seniors left to go. We win any one, and the match is ours. Captains Ben Ersing, Sam Campbell, and Sammy Brusca all won in impressive faction, including a late rally and OT victory by Brusca, and with Sophomore David Dennis' pin, we were in the drivers seat. We lost the last 4 matches convincingly and consequently lost the dual 21-17.
Next two matches did not go very well, as we just got out-toughed and out-worked, two things that really disappointed me. Ersing, Campbell, Dennis, and Heavyweight Zak Colangelo had big wins against Penn State Dubois, but ultimately they showed up to beat us, and beat us they did. Giving up 2 forfeits doesn't help either, but I'm not so sure it would have mattered in PSU-Dubois' 31-13 drubbing of us.
Final match came against a very strong Washington & Jefferson team. They were phsically and mentally stronger than us, and basically dominated every match. Sam Campbell claimed our lone victory, but Ersing and Brusca lost very, very close matches, each of them making one crucial mistake that cost them the match. Final score was a lot to a little.
So what are the take-homes here? Our younger guys are pretty darn good, but still have room to improve, and that it's gut-check time for our upper-classmen. Jr. JP Welch looked good in exhibition and is itching to get in the starting lineup, so we'll be having a wrestle-off this week to see what happens. We did some very good things out there, and we did some very poor things. I still believe this team can succeed and we can still turn in a good conference tournament, but we have to leave it all on the mat every match, and never be out-worked. I don't mind losing if we give it everything we've got, but the guys need to decide what kind of season they want to have.
W&L Invitational is this Saturday, hope to see you there!
