Wesleyan Rolls to 40-12 Victory Over WPI, Then Wins Two of Three in Quad-Meet the Next Day

1.25.09

Five Cardinals came through with a pin during Wesleyan's opening home dual match vs. WPI Fri., Jan. 24, helping the squad roll to a 40-12 triumph. The team was right back on the mat Sun., Jan. 25, taking on Coast Guard, Southern Maine and Johnson & Wales. The Cards defeated Coast Guard, 33-9, and USM, 25-16, before falling to regionally top-ranked and 21st-rated nationally JWU, 21-18. The win over Coast Guard provided 11-year head coach Drew Black with his 100th career win at Wesleyan.

Josh Berkovic '10 (photo insert upper left) was the first to come up with a fall vs. WPI, that at 165 pounds in only 56 seconds, putting Wesleyan ahead for good, 10-6. Greg Hurd '10 (photo insert lower right) came next at 174 pounds with a pin in 1:52. Hurd finished the weekend as the only Cardinal to actually wrestle and win four matches, improving his dual-match record to 10-0 and his overall mark to 25-2 as he is ranked 10th nationally in Division III.

At 184 pounds, Alex Segal '09 made short work of his opponent with a pin in 2:03 while Dan Bloom '10 (main photo), 10th-ranked nationally at 125 pounds, got the job done in 1:32. He, too, was unbeaten over the weekend (with two wins by forfeit), making him 25-1 overall, 9-0 in duals. Chris Alvanos '11 picked up the final Cardinal pin as he upset the fourth-ranked wrestler in New England at 133 pounds with a pin early in the second period.

Dave Bachy '10 also enjoyed a 4-0 weekend (one win by forfeit), including a big pin vs. USM to clinch the victory for the home team with a 16-point lead and just two matches remaining.

Wesleyan was on the road for its next affair, taking on Western New England Fri., Jan. 30 before coming home to tackle Springfield, R.I.C. and M.I.T. Sat., Jan. 31. The match vs. R.I.C. will be webcast and details for watching are on the athletics web site under "Webcasts."

At WNEC, the Cardinals captured nine of 10 bouts in cruising to a 38-6 win. Hurd kept his record intact with a major decision while Bloom had the evening off.