The wrestling team started its season at the Brute Binghamton Open in New York last Saturday. The team sent 26 wrestlers to the tournament, which also featured Ivy League rivals Cornell, Columbia and Princeton. Although no team score was kept, the Bears turned in solid performances.
Stephen DeLorenzo '10 placed third in the 141-pound weight class and Zach Zdrada '09 placed fourth in the heavyweight class, while five more wrestlers were one match away from placing.
"I thought the team did pretty well," said Assistant Coach John Clark. "We were in a lot of matches. It showed that we are competitive."
DeLorenzo had the Bears' highest finish. After defeating Matt Dugan of Drexel by a 7-1 decision, he went on to win his next two matches, including a win by fall, to reach the semifinal round. In the semis, DeLorenzo faced the No. 2 nationally-ranked wrestler in the weight class, Mike Grey from Cornell.
Despite facing such a formidable opponent, DeLorenzo did not show any signs of intimidation, and was tied with Grey, 4-4, at the end of regulation time. While Grey got the upper hand in overtime to win the match, 6-4, Clark said DeLorenzo was with Grey the whole way.
"I didn't think about his ranking going into the match," DeLorenzo said. "I wrestled hard and took it like any other match."
In the third-place match, DeLorenzo defeated Anwar Goeres of Binghamton with a major decision, 12-3. Grey went on to take first place.
The other wrestler who placed for Brown, Zdrada, also went undefeated until he reached the semifinal round, where he lost to Bryant Dienhardt of Drexel, 8-1. Zdrada lost by a one-point margin in the third-place match to DJ Russo of Rutgers, 5-4, and was forced to settle for fourth place.
Clark was pleased with how Zdrada stepped up to fill the void left by last year's tri-captain, Levon Mock '08. But he also acknowledged that the team as a whole "lost a lot of overtime matches and had a lot of one-point losses."
"If we make some adjustments, we can avenge those losses," Clark said.
DeLorenzo also said winning close matches will be a focus for the Bears in practice this week.
"We wrestled a lot better (this weekend) than shown on paper," DeLorenzo said. "We talked about winning close matches at practice today and we will work on improving our techniques."
Five more Bears, two of whom were freshmen, were one match shy of placing. In the 174-pound weight class, Ziad Kharbush '12 won five straight matches after dropping his opening match. In the 141-pound class, Grant Overcashier '12 won three matches in the consolation bracket before he was stopped by Shane Strumwasser of Columbia.
"The freshmen adapted well in their first tournament," Clark said.
Also contributing for the Bears were Lenny Marandino '09, Bryan Tracy '10 and Eli Harris '09, who all advanced far in their respective weight classes.
The team will travel to the University of Pennsylvania this Sunday to compete in the Keystone Classic.
"I see a lot of positive attitude on the team," Clark said. "We will be looking for even better results."
