This is part two in a two part wrap-up series. Here, we take a look ahead at the future of the program. Part one focused on the season that was.
The 2011-2012 season wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Nothing went quite as planned and many of the season’s most exciting parts were completely unexpected. In retrospect, this is part of what made the season so memorable; nobody knew what to expect on any given night.
Moving forward, it’s fair to expect the unexpected. With a whole cast of new wrestlers coming into the fold and the wrestlers already on the roster poised to make noticeable strides next season, about the only thing that is fair to expect from next season will be that next year’s team will be even better than the one that preceded it.
“The future of this program looks great,” senior Matt Fullowan said. “We had a young team and many of them stepped up for us this year. With another recruiting class coming in, it’s only going to get better. Coach [Mike] Rogers and coach [Matt] Greenberg are both coaches that will keep working hard to get this program to where it needs to be.”
While the emergence of this year’s freshman class was remarkable, producing consistent contributors such as Rick Durso, Robert Ruiz, and David Hershberger, the coaching staff believes next year's incoming class has the raw ability to at least match, and hopefully exceed, the production the program received from this year’s freshmen.
Going forward, few things will be as important as bringing in solid recruiting classes on a yearly basis. After their first full class together, both Rogers and Greenberg are excited about what the upcoming class can bring to the table.
“We have ten kids coming in,” Greenberg said. “It’s a good mix and we really added depth to our lineup. We’re really excited. We have a bunch of state place winners in the mix. Hopefully even a state champ. It’s a mix of guys from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, so we really don’t have to go too far to find the talent that we need.”
“The guys we have coming in, they’re just as talented and maybe even a little bit more than the guys we brought in before them,” Rogers said. “That’s the stuff that counts. Each year you want to bring in a more competitive recruiting class. The guys coming in are going to be hungry; they’re not going to concede anything and they’re going to challenge our guys for spots."
“That’s what you want; competition brings out the best in everybody,” Rogers added. “I think every one of the guys we have coming in next year realizes that and understands that. We have a team concept that the best guy gets to compete … everything’s on the table.”
While bringing in a talented freshman class is critical to the long-term health of a program, oftentimes some of the best performers emerge from the group already on board. In the process of taking the next step, both Rogers and Greenberg will be expecting a lot out of the current freshman class—including those who didn’t see much action on the mat this season.
“We had such a talented first-year class,” Rogers said. “I think next year, with all the young guys we had in the lineup, they’ll bring that experience back and they’ll have a more dedicated summer. They understand what this level is like now. I think all these freshmen are really talented.”
Greenberg is also excited to see what guys like Adam Schroeder and Isaiah Cromwell, freshmen who didn’t wrestle all that much over the course of the season, contribute now that they’ll have a full summer to train at the division one level.
“We put very high expectation on each of our guys,” Greenberg said. “We’re never happy when [one of them] isn’t performing. All of them like winning and they don’t like losing. They expect it of themselves. We want them to expect to win, to qualify for nationals, and we want them to expect to be All-Americans and that’s what we’re going to put on them.”
While the Diplomats are certainly bringing in a lot of young talent and will be leaning on some of their younger members to have significant impacts next season, they will be losing a class of four strong seniors. Next year will be light on upperclassmen, as Eric Norgard will be the lone senior and the junior class will be composed of Andrew Murano and Colin Lahiff.
Despite the low numbers of upperclassmen returning next year, Murano is excited and believes the team will make significant strides regardless.
“Eric is a good kid, a good wrestler,” Murano said. “He’ll do really good job of setting the bar. The depth we’ll lose because of the seniors who graduate this year will hurt us, but we have a lot of good freshmen filling in for them. Coach [Rogers] recruited a lot guys in the upper weight class to come in and fill in for the seniors who are graduating.”
“In terms of only having one senior and two juniors, I don’t think it’s going to affect us as much as everyone thinks it will,” Murano added.
Going forward, there will be big shoes to fill. Colin Ely, Matt Fullowan, Matt Latessa, and David Pucci all were consistent leaders in the locker room. They all contributed to the team in their own unique ways, and the coaches came to expect a lot from them as the season progressed.
That being said, there is no shortage of potential leaders on the roster. Norgard and Murano both matured as wrestlers this year and the team will look to Richard Durso, fresh off his trip to nationals, to continue to evolve and develop as a leader.
In short, while there will be some noticeable turnover on the roster and the Dips will be looking to replace a fair amount of talent come November, there are a number of potential leaders and talented wrestlers waiting to assume the leadership role.
Much like this season, the 2012-2013 campaign will likely be exciting, unpredictable, and filled with surprises. If this past year proved anything, it’s that what is expected won’t likely happen. But that’s why everyone comes back every year: for the unexpected. If this year is any indication, what is unexpected will be the most common thing of all.
Through it all though, F&M wrestling will likely take another step towards reaching its goal.
“I think both individually and as a team we achieved our goals [this year],” Durso said. “But with that always comes room for improvement. With coach Rogers we are really building a great program and the future is looking bright.”
The future may be unclear and a little murky at times, but it is certainly promising. Although F&M is trying to claw back from the proverbial wrestling cellar, it’s making progress. Perhaps the only thing that shouldn’t come as a surprise next season will be if the Dips continue to improve.
All the pieces are there; now it’s time for the Dips to put it all together.
No comments:
Post a Comment