The wrestling team kicked off its season at the Binghamton Open on Sunday. Despite missing four of its projected starters due to injuries, three wrestlers placed individually.
Greg Einfrank '10 led the way, finishing second at the 125-pound weight class. Bryan Tracy '10 and Larry Otsuka '10 followed by finishing fifth and sixth at the 157-pound and 197-pound weight classes, respectively. Branden Stearns '10, who wrestled unattached to Brown, placed fifth at 197 pounds, after defeating his teammate Otsuka by a 2-0 margin.
"The team did average," said Head Coach Dave Amato. "A tournament like this, only individual performance counts, not the team performance."
Einfrank cruised past his opponents all the way to the final match before he was defeated by Garrett Frey of Princeton, 9-4. The other three seniors who placed all lost one match in the tournament, which sent them to the consolation bracket, where they fought their way back to be on the podium. Tracy won his first two matches before falling in the third round. He won more matches in the consolation bracket before losing to eventual fourth-place finisher Derek Schreiner of Cornell. Tracy won his final match against Corey Lear of Bucknell, 7-2, to claim fifth place.
Otsuka advanced into the semifinal round before losing his first match to Martin Porter of Delaware Valley, 4-2. Once in the consolation bracket, he won two more matches and eventually finished sixth. Stearns also fought his way back in the consolation bracket after losing his second-round match by winning four matches in a row. He eventually faced off against Otsuka in his last match and came out on top to claim fifth place.
Amato was pleased with the four seniors who placed and the other upperclassmen who wrestled well but fell short of placement.
"The upperclassmen, for the most part, wrestled well," Amato said. "The freshmen did OK. There were some surprises and some disappointments. I am more interested in how they respond next weekend."
Amato said there are techniques that the whole team needs to improve.
"Conditioning-wise, we are in a good shape," Amato said. "But there are technical things the team needs to work on, especially in the bottom position and defense on your feet."
"Overall, it was a good test for us to see where we are at," he added.
The team will travel to Philadelphia to compete in the Keystone Classic this Sunday.
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