The wrestling team concluded its season at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Tournament held at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania this past weekend. Out of the 10 lineups, three Brown wrestlers placed - Mark Savino '08 finished sixth at 141 pounds, Shawn Kitchner '07 finished fourth at 165 pounds and Levon Mock '08 finished fourth at 285 pounds. Kitchner and Mock both qualified for NCAA Wrestling Tournament. As a team, Brown finished 10th of 14 teams with 34.5 points.
The team left on Wednesday evening for the two-day tournament held on Friday and Saturday. The top four finishers at each weight automatically advance to Nationals, along with three fifth-place wildcards. Five of the wrestlers were seeded entering the tournament.
Leading the young team were three juniors and a returning senior. Levon Mock '08 was the highest-seeded wrestler on the team. He had a strong start on Friday, winning two matches and advancing to the semi-finals, where he fell short 3-2 against No. 1 seed Ed Prendergast from Navy.
In his fight for Nationals, Mock wrestled against the sixth-seeded Kevin Lester from Columbia, whom he had defeated earlier in the season.
Despite the pressure, Mock took control of the match from the start. He scored 13 points before he pinned Lester at 5:24, earning a spot at Nationals.
Savino was the second-highest seeded wrestler on the team. As the sixth seed at 141 pounds, Savino started the tournament strong with two wins, including defeating third-seeded Brad Canterbury from Navy with a 6-4 decision. However, Savino stumbled in the semifinals when he faced off against the second seed, Matt Ciasulli from Lehigh. Savino lost to Ciasulli 13-5 but advanced to Saturday.
In his consolation semifinal match, Savino lost 9-3 to Kyle Borshoff from American University, who had upset the first seed on Friday. In his final match fighting for fifth place and the wildcard for advancing onto Nationals, Savino led 3-1 with 20 seconds left in the match. However, his opponent, eighth seed Brett McCurdy from the University of Pennsylvania, evened the score with a reversal, and the two headed into overtime. In the second round of overtime, McCurdy took down Savino with eight seconds remaining. Savino lost the match 5-3, narrowly missing nationals.
Head Coach Dave Amato said Mock had a great tournament and that Savino also had a great first day. He also praised Kitchner's performance.
Kitchner suffered an injury at the Lone Star Duals in January that threatened to end his season. However, Kitchner insisted on having surgery and coming back at the end of the year. At the time of the weekend's tournament, he had not wrestled in seven weeks, and everyone, including Kitchner himself, had doubts whether he was physically prepared enough to compete in the tournament.
Kitchner proved he still retained his skills after winning his first match at EIWA with a 10-7 decision against Justin Herbert from Franklin & Marshall College.
"I did not wrestle up to my capabilities in the first match," Kitchner said. "But it was good enough for me to take the win."
In his second match, Kitchner faced off against the No. 1 seed Michael Cannon from American. It was a close match, but Kitchner eventually fell 5-2.
To advance to Nationals, Kitchner had to win three more matches. In his first consolation match, he defeated his opponent from Lehigh 9-4 and then beat fifth-seeded Frankie Colletta from Harvard 5-3.
The next day, Kitchner faced a tough opponent, No. 2 seed and 10th-ranked nationally Zach Shanaman from Penn. Despite the odds, Kitchner took command on the mat. After taking a 4-2 lead, he scored on another takedown in the late third period to secure his victory with a 6-2 decision and a ticket to Nationals.
"I wrestled a complete match (against Penn). I wrestled smart and aggressive and was able to beat my opponent," Kitchner said.
Looking back, Kitchner said he wrestled better as the tournament went on.
"I was more mentally focused. I wanted the season to keep going. I did not want it to end because of my injury. I knew losing was not an option so I wrestled more aggressively," Kitchner said.
The rest of the team did not fare as well despite strong efforts. Jeff Schell '08 wrestled at 133 pounds this year for the first time in his career and fell short in his debut, losing two very close matches.
As the seventh seed, Tom Fazio '09 won his opening match against Jimmy Peppers from American with a major decision of 11-2. However, Fazio dropped his next two matches and did not advance onto Saturday.
Greg Einfrank '10 was seeded eighth at 125 pounds. After losing his first match, he came back in his first consolation match but lost his following match and could not advance in the tournament.
"The guys wrestled with a lot of heart and competitive spirit. For the young guys, their loss was mostly due to lack of maturity. But I sense that this team has a lot of tenacity, and I look forward to a good off season with the guys," Amato said.
Kitchner and Mock will leave for Nationals, held on March 15 to 17, next Tuesday. Though going to Nationals will be a valuable experience for next year, Mock said he wants more out of it.
"I will strive to become an All-American. For the next two weeks, I will work on moving my feet and improving my offense," Mock said.
As for Kitchner, he said he would love to be an All-American.
"I have a lot of work to do in the next two weeks. I just want to go out there and wrestle my best and finish my college wrestling career on a high note," he said.
