The wrestling team competed in the Journeymen/BRUTE Northeast Collegiate Duals on Saturday. The team took fourth place after losing to Binghamton University, 31-9; American University, 30-12; and the No. 5 University of Missouri, 41-3.
"They are all good teams," said Assistant Coach Ed Gutnik. "But we could have wrestled better."
Co-captain Matt Gevelinger '09 led the team with two wins in the 184-pound weight class. He first defeated Andrew Semple of American by an 8-5 decision and then won against John Andrews of Missouri by a 5-1 decision, which turned out to be the sole victory Brown earned against the Tigers. Gevelinger dropped his opening match against Joshua Patterson of Binghamton by fall.
Besides Gevelinger, four other Bears earned points for the team. Eli Harris '09, wrestling at 133, won the first match for Brown in the opening dual against Binghamton, taking down his opponent with an 8-2 decision. In the same dual, Ziad Kharbush '12 defeated Anthony Esposito by a score of 7-2 at 174. Zachary Zdrada '09 captured three more team points in the heavyweight class after defeating Carl Korpi, 8-2.
In the dual against American, Branden Stearns '09 won a close match against Andrew Silber, 6-5, in the 197-lbs weight class, and Brown earned six more points when American forfeited the 165 match.
The team expected better results from this past weekend, according to Gutnik, who said the three losses were "not due to one single thing."
"We need to better prepare ourselves for matches in practice," Gutnik added. He pointed out the team needs to improve on the top positions.
Injuries also contributed to the Bears' loss. Greg Einfrank '10 and co-captain Chris Musser '09 have both been out due to injuries so far this season but are expected to return when the dual meet season starts in January, according to Assistant Coach John Clark.
The Bears were coming off a competition at the Keystone Classic Tournament at University of Pennsylvania, which took place on Sunday, Nov. 23, right before Thanksgiving break. Brown took fifth place out of ten teams, with four wrestlers placing individually. Gevelinger led the team as the No. 1 seed in his weight class and fulfilled the promise by taking first place, and Stephen DeLorenzo '10 turned in a third-place performance in the 149 class. Bryan Tracy '10 placed fifth and Kharbush placed fourth in the 165 and 174 weight classes, respectively.
This weekend, the Bears will travel to the two-day Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, which will take place on Friday and Saturday. The team will compete against 47 other schools, including Ivy League rivals and some of the top-ranked teams in the country.
