Pre-Season
The Bearcats just about finished their six week pre-season this morning. The format for this year’s pre-season was much like years past: morning practices on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 6:30 am and optional wrestling practices in the afternoons Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
Morning workouts started with a 45 minute lift, followed by varying cardio workouts, including stairs, buddy carries, sprints, hills, and long-distance runs. The difference between this year’s pre-season and last year’s….intensity! We have a great group of athletes that are self-motivated to better themselves. The upper classmen have set a great pace that is pushing everybody to a higher level. The freshman are running with it and trying to win everything they do, pushing the older guys to an even higher level. It has been really great to see!
The optional afternoon practices have been great, with nearly all team members participating. The practices have been about an hour long, and most team members have been drilling for about 30 minutes and wrestling live for 30 minutes. The technique has varied, but most of the team has focused on drilling defense and hand-fighting. Live wrestling continues to change almost daily, sometimes wrestling one 30 minute match, or wrestling 30 minutes of different situations.
Some Notable Pre-Season Accomplishments:
Justin Lister- We had three one mile runs and Justin finished first in every single one. He finished under 5:40 for each one.
Joe Bonaldi- After finishing various sprints for a total of three miles, Joe was the only person on the team to successfully baby carry his partner without putting him down for 1 lap on the track.
Joe Chamish- After never finishing higher than third to last in a run as a freshman, Joe is not only competing to win sprints now, he is winning sprints.
Binghamton Bearcats- The team has really matured. Team members are now holding other members accountable if they are not trying 100%. They are pushing each other to reach their highest potential.
Flooding
As many of you know, the Binghamton area was hit by record breaking floods in early September that caused an estimated 1 billion dollars of damage. Many people in the surrounding area were left homeless for weeks, and had to live in various shelters set-up by the local community.
The wrestling team lent a helping hand to the community, helping close down a Red Cross Shelter at Johnson City High School, and relocating those individuals still there to the University’s Event Center. The wrestling team was also responsible for loading up trucks with donated goods and unloading them to a local Christian missionary set-up for flood relief. Here is the link for the article posted on the NCAA website: http://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2011-10-02/ lending-hand-time-need
Many members of the Binghamton Wrestling family were also affected by the devastating floods. Members of the team helped one supporter of our program strip the drywall out of his basement. Other members of the team helped a supporter move furniture out of their flood stricken home. Here is the link for the article posted on the BU Bearcats website:
This past weekend, six members of the team, Cody Reed, Tyler Deuel, Brian St. James, Nate Schiedel, John Paris, and Ben Price, traveled to Tioga to help a member of the Volleyball team whose house was devastated by the flood.
CAA All Freshman Team
Congratulations to Freshman Derak Heyman (141lbs), Adam Morris (165lbs), Tyler Deuel (197lbs), and Nick Gwiazdowski (HWT) for making the CAA All-Freshman Team. The Bearcats had the most members on the team at 4, followed by ODU with 3, George Mason with 2, and Hofstra with 1.
CAA Pre-Season Rankings
Currently the Binghamton Bearcats sit in second place behind Hofstra. The wrestling team has 8 members ranked.125-Derek Steeley- 3rd133-Patrick Hunter- 4th149-Donnie Vinson- 2nd157-Justin Lister- 1st165-Matt Kaylor- 3rd174-John Paris- 3rd184-Nate Schiedel- 2nd197-Cody Reed- 3rd
Here is the link to the article about the rankings:
Blog
As the Binghamton Wrestling team continues to grow each year as a program, we continue to receive overwhelming support from our friends and alumni. Many of our friends and alumni have asked for a better way to keep up-to-date with the wrestling team, and anything relevant on our student-athletes. Thanks to some serious help from Lyndsey Beasley (Assistant Coach Frank Beasley’s wife), we have come up with a resource to not only keep you up-to-date on rankings, and team progress, but also a media outlet that we can post videos of our current athletes and former alumni.
Currently we are featuring two ongoing segments called, Two Minute Tuesdays with Patrick Hunter and Throwback Thursday. For those that have not seen Two Minute Tuesdays, we have got some great feedback. Patrick is a transfer from Iowa State University and is looking to start at 133lbs this year. After only a short-time, it became apparent that if we were going to do one feature every week, it had to involve Patrick. He brings a great new dynamic to the team. He is extremely intense, but also knows when to crack some jokes and break the tension. For those that have not seen the video, check it out on our blog!
Throwback Thursday is just starting now. The video will interview former wrestlers and coaches from the team, and get their perspective on their time as a student-athlete at Binghamton, and what they are doing now that they aren’t competing. This week’s episode features 2011 graduates Dan Bittner and Ryan McGarity. Catch up with them on this week’s Throwback Thursday!
Alumni Support
Thank you to those alumni who have continued to support our team! Our goal this year is to hit $50,000 in fundraised money. This money goes such a long way in helping our wrestlers. It allows the team to compete outside of the Northeast, and seek the best competition available. This year we will be traveling to Oklahoma State and the Reno Tournament of Champions. In order to beat the best, we have to face the best! Our main objectives are to add 50 new donors this year and reconnect with alumni and friends of Binghamton Wrestling. With continued support, we are able to move our program forward and compete at a higher level.
Please reach out to former teammates and see if they would be interested in joining our efforts. If each alumnus is able to connect with a former teammate, our goals can become much more attainable. If you know anybody (friend, family, and teammate) that wants to be added to our email list, please let me know.
In order to donate to the wrestling program, please click on the account tab. When the tab comes up, please select “Other, Please Specify”. Thank you for all your support!
Tidbits
For the NCAA article on the Binghamton Wrestling Teams Relief efforts click the link:http://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2011-10-02/ lending-hand-time-need·
Please be sure to follow the Binghamton Bearcats on our Blog. Get daily updates on the team, including videos, and write-ups. Follow the link:
Be sure to follow us on Facebook! Remember to Like Friends of Binghamton Wrestling: Follow the link:
A special thanks goes out to Lyndsey Beasley for running the blog
Binghamton Wrestling Gear:Be sure to get the latest Binghamton Wrestling gear thanks to World Wide Sports Supply! Get your moms, dads, brothers and sisters fitted with t-shirts, shorts, fight shorts, and polos. Follow the link:http://www.wwsport.com/NCAA-School-Apparel/Binghamton- University-Wrestling-Apparel. aspx
Go Bearcats!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Coach Popolizio's Fall Newsletter (10/13)
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