With results that echoed those at the wrestling team's opening tournament at the Brockport-Oklahoma Gold Classic, five wrestlers placed individually in the team's second tournament, the Keystone Classic, held Nov. 18 at the University of Pennsylvania.
But the five wrestlers who placed at Keystone were different from those who placed in the first tournament. Leading the team was tri-captain Levon Mock '08, the tournament's No. 1 seed, who eventually took the championship in the heavyweight class.
Mock, who did not perform well in the first tournament, said it served as a wake-up call for him.
Going into the tournament, Mock said, "I didn't know what to expect. I was taking it one match at a time."
Mock, who didn't know about his seeding until after his weigh-in, won his first match of the day at Keystone against Quinton Pruett of Arizona State University with a 4-0 decision. He advanced through his second match with an injury default, and then defeated the tournament's No. 5 seed Kenny Lester, also from Arizona State, 5-2 in the semifinals.
"In both matches, I had the first takedowns," Mock said. "After that, I was wrestling more defensively. I was a bit heavy on my feet - that's something I need to work on."
In the championship match, Mock faced No. 2 seed Trey McLean of Penn whom he had never faced before. Mock again took control from the start with a takedown. But this time, he was much more aggressive with points and won with a major decision of 12-3 to seize the championship title.
Besides Mock, four of Brown's 23 total wrestlers also placed in the tournament. Sixth-seeded Tom Fazio '09 finished fourth in the 157-pound weight class. Fazio also did not perform well in the first tournament, so he wanted "to win and definitely place in this tournament."
"I wanted to wrestle up to my potential," Fazio said.
Fazio started the tournament well, with a lopsided 10-1 win over Boston University's Ben Mendelbrant.
"I wrestled my style and controlled most of the match," he said.
Fazio then won his second-round match, against No. 3 seed Tommy Cunningham, before stumbling in the semifinal round. Facing No. 2 seed Rob Morrison, Fazio lost by a fall early in the second period of the match. After dropping into the consolation bracket, Fazio defeated his consolation semifinal round opponent with a narrow 2-0 decision, but could not do the same in the third-place match. Fazio lost the match 4-0 to end the tournament in fourth place.
"This tournament was better than the first," Fazio said. "I think my biggest problem is that I lose to opponents who I could have beaten. Right now I'm watching the match videos and trying to correct (my technique)," he said.
The three other Bears who placed were John Triggas '09 at 133 pounds (sixth place), Branden Stearns '09 at 197 pounds (third place) and Zach Zdrada '09, the other heavyweight wrestler, who took fourth place.
The team as a whole placed seventh out of 10, just two points behind sixth-place American University and 6.5 points behind fouth-place Rider University. The team was shooting for the top three, but one of its wrestlers who placed in the first tournament, Greg Einfrank '10, at 125 pounds, was injured during the tournament and could not finish. Had Einfrank finished the tournament, the team could have moved up to at least fifth place.
"We had five different people placing in this tournament than the last. If we can all put it together on the same day, we can be a really strong team," Mock said.
Since the conclusion of the Keystone Classic, the wrestlers have been preparing for their next competition. The team departs Thursday for the Las Vegas Invitational, which takes place this weekend. The team has already held an intra-team competition to decide the lineup for the invitational. Mock said Las Vegas is by far the most competitive tournament in the season schedule.
"It's a 32-man bracket and there will be some Big Ten and Big 12 teams there," Mock said.
