While most of the West Chester University student population was away during winter break, the WCU wrestling club was in action competing in numerous events and continuing to build upon their early season success. The team, coached by Jim Miller, pushed their overall season record to 8-1 after defeating fellow National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) member the University of Maryland – Baltimore County 27-24 on Jan. 13.Getting things started for the Golden Rams was star wrestler Dillon Evans. The sophomore got things going in the right direction with a dominating 21-4 tech fall victory at 157 pounds. Evans is 8-2 this season as he leads the Golden Rams wrestling club 76.70 points on the year.
Following Evans was sophomore Daniel Tancredi, who won his match in 46 seconds by launching his opponent three times, sparking excitement from the crowd. Junior Brandon Banks, who is 8-1 on the season, continued his stellar year with a pin fall victory in 53 seconds.
At 235, freshman Brian Nicholson was sharp in recording three takedowns and accumulating three plus minutes of riding time to earn an 11-2 major decision that put WCU up 27-3. The Retrievers then staged a valiant come back with a fall at 285, an overtime decision at 125, a decision at 133 and another fall at 141 to close the gap to six with one bout to go.
UMBC’s Daniel Carr and WCU’s Cody Carrigan engaged in an extremely tight battle for seven full minutes that saw Carr emerge with a 3-2 victory, thanks to a point for riding time.
On Jan. 9, the WCU wrestling team headed to Collegeville, PA for the North/South Duals at Ursinus College. West Chester finished the day with a 3-1 record on the day, only losing to nationally ranked D3 SUNY Oneonta. The Golden Rams did defeat McDaniel College, the Coast Guard Academy and Army Prep.
The first meet of the day was against McDaniel College, who West Chester fell to 32-12 last season. This year was a much different story, as John Dickinson recorded a fall in the opening match, and the Golden Rams never looked back. Cody Carrigan, Dillon Evans, Tank Tancredi and Kevin Bacci teamed up for four falls in a row, and Brandon Banks drove the final nail in the coffin to make the final score of the meet 32-21.
The second meet was against a seasoned Army Prep rival team. As in the first meet, Dickinson once again got the Golden Rams started off right with a fall. After that match there was a forfeit by each team, and then Army scored a major fall to climb to within two of West Chester. That would be Army’s only win on the day, as the Golden Rams dominated the rest of the matches, winning the final six and making the final score 41-10. Evans, Tancredi, and Banks all earned their second victories of the day.
West Chester’s third meet of the day against the Coast Guard Academy was also their third team victory, second over America’s major military forces. West Chester fell behind early on in the meet. After the first five events, the Golden Ram wrestlers were down 20-6, and in danger of their first loss of the season. The big guns came out though, as West Chester came back to take a 27-20 lead into the final bout, guaranteeing them the win. The final score of the meet was 27-26, and Banks recorded his third win of the day with another fall.
SUNY Oneagonta was West Chester’s fourth and final meet of the day. After a long and tiresome day filled with wrestling, the weary Golden Ram squad was unable to seal their fourth victory of the day, as they fell in a tough contest, 31-16. Tancredi and Bacci each won their third match of the day, but it was not enough to down the Oneagonta Red Dragons.
“It has been a good year so far,” coach Joe Miller said. “We have a great WCU wrestling alumni that have donated time, money, and support. The WCU wrestling program would like to thank Dr. Steve Gambino for all his help and support over the last year and a half. Our next big goal is to win Nationals in March in Hampton, VA, God willing.”
West Chester’s next meet will be on Wednesday in a dual meet against Lehigh and Valley Forge Military Academy at home.
LJ Harrell is a fourth-year student majoring in Marketing. He can be reached at LH639694@wcupa.edu.
Ryan Frisco is a third-year student majoring in Communication studies. He can be reached at RF648257@wcupa.edu.