The West Chester University Golden Ram wrestlers continued their spectacular season this past week, as they dominated visiting opponents Lehigh University and Valley Forge Military Academy Wednesday night.Originally on the schedule for the team was a team from New Jersey. After the visiting squad was unable to make the meet, Lehigh, who just recently started a club team of their own, agreed to send six of their wrestlers down to get some matches. Valley Forge Military Academy sent five of their wrestlers to make it a small tri meet.
In order to get the most wrestlers a match, West Chester had to wrestle all of their guys up a weight class, giving their competition that much more of an edge. Despite the disadvantage, the Golden Rams were able to bull through, taking nine of the eleven matches to win the meet.
After Mike Flynn was pinned in a tough first match of the meet, Steven Armor came out to give the crowd one of the most exciting matches of the evening. Armor started off the match strong, going in for a quick takedown with a single leg sweep and taking a 2-0 lead. After a Lehigh reverse, the first period ended in a 2-2 tie.
Armor started off the second period letting his opponent up, confident he could take him down again. This proved a big mistake, as the Lehigh wrestler took him down to take a 5-2 lead. Armor received one point because his opponent didn’t set up correctly, which made the score 5-3. Before the period ended, Armor got the crowd going by reversing his opponent and putting him on his back to take a two-point lead into the final period.
In a desperation attempt, Armor’s opponent let him up to start the third period, hoping he could take him down straight to his back. To his dismay, and the entire gym’s pleasure, Armor would not go down. He instead took the Lehigh wrestler down, straight to his back, and won the match by a major decision, electrifying his team and fans alike.
Dillon Evans followed suit after Armor, controlling his match in every way. Evans had fun with his opponent for the first couple minutes of the match, as he kept taking him down and letting him up over and over again. Evans recorded six takedowns in the match before finally pinning him in the second period.
Matt Rooney was next up for the Golden Rams. Rooney ended up on the losing side of a hard fought battle. Going into the final period, he was only down by a score of 2-0. It went downhill from there though, as the Lehigh wrestler exploded for 11 points at the end to make the final score 13-1.
That was the end of West Chester’s losses on the night. Dustin “Tank” Tancredi came out smoking in his first match of the night, taking a cement mixer to his opponent early on in the first period and recording a lightning fast pin.
Ryan Rozniakowski was the last to go up against a Lehigh wrestler, and he too had an exciting match. Like Evans, Rozniakowski played with his opponent, taking him down four times in the first period to end it at 8-3. After an escape and takedown in the second period, his opponent started to come back, as he recorded a takedown of his own. Rozniakowski would have none of that, as he came back with a cement mixer and laid the Lehigh University wrestler out to notch West Chester’s third pin of the match.
After Lehigh, VFMA entered the ring for five more matches. Bryan Carter was the first Golden Ram to come out. He had one of the quickest matches of the night, as he took his opponent right to the mat and pinned him very early on in the opening period.
Steven Armor came out for more, and had yet another stellar, come from behind victory. After taking an early 4-2 lead, Armor was caught out of position and taken to his back to go down 4-6. He got a reversal to make the score 6-6 going into the last period.
In the final period, Armor elected to start on the bottom. This proved to be the best move, as he managed another reversal to take a two point lead. His opponent did escape for one point, but could do nothing else the rest of the match as Armor won his second of the night.
Dillon Evans came out for another match too, and dominated this one much like his first. He recorded an early takedown, got three back points, three more back points, and then pinned his second opponent of the night.
Matt Rooney also came out for some revenge on his first match of the evening. After taking down his opponent, he was penalized one point for trying a full nelson, an illegal move. He then took him to his back to get two back points, driving the score to 4-1 before falling victim to a reversal.
The VFMA wrestler then locked his hands, giving Rooney a two-point lead. One more takedown in the third period would seal the deal as he took the decision.
Tank Tancredi came out for West Chester’s last match of the meet, and in repeat fashion of the first match, made quick work of his opponent with a first period pin, this time by headlock.
“The guys looked good, and it was a good warm-up getting ready for this weekends dual meets,” coach Joe Miller said.
After seeing the weekend’s performance, it is safe to say that West Chester is one of the top schools in the nation to be contended with at their level. In the five dual meets Friday and Saturday, West Chester easily overtook four opposing teams, boosting their season record to 13-2.
In the first meet against Virginia Military Institute, the Golden Rams devoured, as John Dickinson, Steven Armor, and Tank Tancredi each pinned their opponent within the first minute of regulation.
Kevin Bacci also recorded a pin for West Chester, and Abe Brooks and Steve Rathfon rounded out WCU’s scoring with major decisions. The final score was a blowout 56-3.
West Chester’s next opponent was Saturday afternoon, as they let up only three points for the second straight time, against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Both Armor and Tancredi recorded their second pins of the weekend, and Dickinson and Rathfon notched their second win. Others adding to the scoring were Mike Flynn, Cody Carrigan, Ryan Rozniakowski, Brandon Banks, and Sean Fitzgerald with a pin.
Next up for the Rams was the Apprentice School, who handed WCU their first and only loss of the weekend. West Chester fell in a tough 30-15 defeat.
Tank Tancredi earned his third win of the duals with a major decision, and Dillon Evans, Kevin Bacci, and Sean Fitzgerald were the other winners, all remaining undefeated for the event.
After that, it was smooth sailing for West Chester through their next two opponents. First up was Grand Valley State University, where West Chester doubled their score, winning 29-15.
Fitzgerald recorded another pin on the day, and Evans and Dickinson added major decisions. Armor, Tancredi, and Bacci were the Golden Rams other winners in the meet.
West Chester’s last meet of the weekend was against the University of Southern Indiana, where they won for the fourth time, by a score of 38-21.
Tank Tancredi earned a technical fall against his opponent, making it five for five over the Dual Meet weekend. Cody Carrigan and Abe Brooks both recorded first period falls, and Ryan Rozniakowski was the other West Chester winner in the meet to take them to victory.
Overall, it was an amazing week for West Chester University wrestlers, as the team went a combined 6-1. Dustin Tancredi won seven matches over that span, and Dillon Evans won all five that he wrestled in.
This upcoming week, the WCU Golden Ram wrestlers have two meets. First up is a home meet against Williamson Trade School Wednesday night at 7 p.m. On Thursday, the Rams will travel to Lancaster to take on Thaddeus Stevens at 7 p.m.
These two meets are in preparation for the Pennsylvania State Championships to take place Saturday, Feb. 13, at William Trade School. West Chester has potential both in
dividually and as a team to do extremely well there, and send wrestlers to Nationals two weeks later.
Ryan Frisco is a third-year student majoring in Communication studies. He can be reached at RF648257@wcupa.edu.