By now I am sure most of you have checked the results from the weekend. While we still have a ways to go to reach our goals this weekend was a very good showing for F&M Wrestling and definitely proof that we are in fact progressing. Here are my thoughts from the Navy Classic…
125 – Kenny Knapp wrestled for the first time this season and it was pretty clear that he was affected by the time he missed with injuries. Even with the shortened practice time Kenny was able to go 2-2 and showed signs of greatness along the way. We must also give Kenny credit for making 125 for the first time, and I am confident that moving forward he will be able to focus on his wrestling now that he knows the weight is attainable.
Dan Fox wrestled some tough matches, the second of which was unfortunately Kenny Knapp. Dan has worked hard all season long and continues to improve every day. He will undoubtedly get better from having Jake and Kenny as workout partners and I look for great things from Dan in the future. He is also a pleasure to coach as he never complains and always works hard no matter what.
133 – Two tournaments, two medals, 10 wins, what else is there to say about Jakes performance this season. He has clearly stepped up as a team leader and the breakout star of our lineup. Jake dominated all of his opponents into the semi-finals where he ran into a tough David Marble from Bucknell. The match was close and it was clear that Jake was frustrating the favored Bucknell star from his actions on the mat. He took some hard head clubs and questionable late shoves from Marble which in my opinion through Jake off his game. As a result the match got away from him and he lost what could have been a great win. During the match Jake was clearly shaken by the hard clubs and pushing and we spoke about it afterwards. We went over some strategy when dealing with those situations and when the same thing happened the next match Jake was able to block it out and focus on his wrestling. He used his opponents’ frustration as an opportunity to score and mentally break the opposing wrestler, which from a coaching perspective is wonderful to see. Jake lost a close match for 3rd, but I am confident he learned from his mistakes and will be better for it.
Matt Murray had some bright spots this weekend. He was solid on top as always but still needs to improve on his feet and on the mat. He lost both of his matches from the bottom position and with some hard work in the room he can fix that and those losses will quickly turn into wins.
149 – Eric Norgard is one of those wrestlers who you know is going to be good. He is fast, has great technique, and an amazingly large gas tank. The only problem is he is not physically where he needs to be to make those pro’s work for him 100% of the time. Eric had some nice wins at the tourney but he still needs to work on getting stronger and wrestling with a strategy. His amazing endurance will not factor into his matches if he doesn’t get into the 3rd period. That being said I would bet my paycheck that Eric Norgard will be star for this team in the future.
David Pucci is still coming into his own this year. He has improved greatly since the first practice and he does have some positions he really needs to focus on if he wants to continue to improve. I know he wants to get better so it will only be a matter of time before we fix the mistakes and get David to a level where he is winning the matches he currently is coming up short in. David did hit the nicest double leg takedown that I have seen in a long time, it was so nice it even shocked him when he hit it!
157 – Matt Gittleman had a tough tournament. Matt is a hard worker in the room and a great leader for the team. He also was getting down to weight for the first time this season so I hope he will improve on his performance moving forward. If Matt is going to be successful he will need to cut down on the points he gives his opponents and fight hard for every single take down. He will also need to get better on bottom.
165 – Anthony Bongarzone is one of the most talented kids on our team. He is the funkiest wrestler on our squad by far and sometimes he relies on “the funk” a little too much and it backfires. This weekend was one of those times – during his first match against a tough Navy wrestler Anthony got into a scramble and tweaked his knee. Amazingly he finished the match and wrestled hard but he did hurt himself and we did have to pull him from the tournament. Anthony is a very important part of our lineup and we felt it was a smart move to pull him out and save him for the duel season. We should find out today how serious the knee injury is.
174 – The winner of the imaginary Most Improved Wrester Award definitely went to Matt Fullowan this past weekend. He also won the Drove Coach Matt Crazy Award. Matt is on the verge of breaking onto the national scene. I have been telling him this for weeks and he has been improving daily through hard work and endless technique sessions. At the Clarion tournament Matt was a bit hesitant in his matches and this caused him to lose some of the close ones. Well over the past two weeks we have worked hard on being aggressive and believing in his abilities and this weekend it paid off. Matt dominated his first opponent with some nice takedowns and even nicer turns on top (I taught him that!). This put him in the quarters against a tough nationally ranked Shane Riccio, fresh off a win over an All American from UVA. The last time Matt wrestled Riccio at Clarion he was majored. We had worked on his strategy and watched film on the match so this time he was prepared. The first period was scoreless and we had to choose down as a result. We ended up giving up a quick 2pt. tilt and in the third period we had to let Riccio up. Matt had a few scoring opportunities and pretty much dictated the pace on his feet with an array of front headlocks and short offense assaults. Riccio is about 6’2” so scoring is very tough on him. We were unable to convert a last second high crotch that would have sent the match into OT but we did come away with a good feeling for the next time they meet. Matt went on to win 2 more matches and then lost a heart breaker to former NJ State Champ Anthony Trangone from Virginia Tech. Matt had him beat, wrestling a perfect match and sending it to OT. In OT Matt was spinning around for a takedown when Trangone tried a last second desperation roll. Matt countered the roll and had what looked to be 2pts but by the time the referee got into position Trangone had come out of the move and had 2 of his own. It was a tough loss for Matt and he probably should have won the match had the ref been on the other side when he spun, but the lesson learned is that it is not 2pts until it is 2pts and you cannot allow the match to be decided by a ref’s call. I am very proud of Matt and feel he turned a corner this weekend. I also think he will improve throughout the season and expect great things from him at the end of the year.
184 – Matt Latessa missed 10 days with a bad ankle sprain and I think it hurt his performance (no pun intended). Matt has some great takedowns and is very explosive but he needs to get back into wrestling mode. He had some trouble on the mat and he will need to fix that if he is to achieve the success that I think he can this year.
197 – Colin Ely is a unique wrestler. He has a very unique style and it can only be described as ballet meets ice hockey at Nascar speeds. Colin is very gifted with great strength and flexibility-a very rare thing for a 197lber. What he needs to work on is his match strategy and conditioning if he wants to be great. He shows signs of greatness but he also makes mental errors that cost him in big matches. Colin is a very hard worker and never complains in the room so I am sure he will be more than happy to take on these challenges the way he takes on everything, else, with a great attitude and a big smile.
HWT – If there is one guy on our team that I can say listens to me 100% of the time and follows the pre-match strategy perfectly it is Daniel Canfield. He is a joy to coach and is one of the most courageous wrestlers I have seen in a while. Daniel weighs about 220lbs soaking wet and was planning on going 184 this year but for the team he stepped up or should I say ate up and filled in at HWT. He has more than filled in for us over the last two weeks, taking on men weighing 40-60lbs more than him and beating his fare share of them. Danny wrestled with heart, never gives up, and has pretty amazing technique for a “big guy”. Danny made the semi-finals but was stopped by some much “bigger guys” than himself. In his final match he lost on a controversial call to a 285lb monster from Bloomsburg. If Danny can put on a little weight and continue to perfect our HWT strategy he could be a really bad matchup for any HWT out there.
As a team we finished 5th behind Navy, Virginia Tech, Bucknell, and Bloomsburg. I believe this is the highest finish for our team since we started attending the event, and I feel we are only scratching the surface of our potential. We have 3 days of practice before the holidays and then we come back ready for Princeton and NYU. I want to thank all of the parents and friends of F&M who made the trip to Navy and supported us throughout the day. I would also like to give a special thank you to the Fullowan’s and the other parents who prepared food and drinks for the coaches and wrestlers during the long tournament. Have a safe trip to wherever you are headed and have a great holiday with your families and loved ones.
Best,
Coach G
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