Week in Review 01.16.12

It was a busy and frustrating week as two top ten teams squeaked out wins on us.  Tuesday, we lost by a takedown to #7 Oklahoma (20-15) and Sunday we lost on criteria after tying #5 Cornell 21-21.  Both were tough losses in matches that we had the ability to win.  We will learn from the losses and improve for the upcoming matches.  Here is a rundown on each wrestler’s performance…

125 – Derek Steeley did not wrestle well on Tuesday but did wrestle a bit better on Sunday.  Both of his matches were against top ten opponents.  Derek is still relying too much on his flexibility and not wrestling basic enough.  He did not move his feet well and was a little sluggish this week.  This week, he will focus on keeping his hands and feet moving.

133 – Patrick Hunter had a tough loss to #11 Keller on Tuesday in a match that he did not wrestle well until the third.  I think that he lacked confidence in the match and wrestled hesitantly until he realized that he could win the match in the third and wrestled much better.  Saturday, he had a good win and controlled the match.  I thought he did a nice job managing the match yesterday.  Patrick is getting better every match.

 141 – Joe Bonaldi ran into #1 Maple on Tuesday and did not fare well.  Maple flat out is better than him at this point but Joe will improve and close the gap, just like he has with Nevinger.  Yesterday, he wrestled top twenty ranked Nevinger, whom had techfalled him earlier this season.  Joe wrestled very well the first two and a half periods and scored a takedown.  Late in the third, Nevinger got a takedown and a few turns at the end of the match.  It was a tight match till Nevinger scored the takedown and back points late in the third but Joe has made big gains since last time the two wrestled and continues to get better.

149 – Donnie Vinson dominated both of his matches against ranked wrestlers this week.  In both matches he scored with a variety of takedowns and wrestled well on the mat.  Tuesday, he scored a solid 7-2 win over the #7 ranked Lester of Oklahoma.  Yesterday, he rolled to a technical fall over Villalonga of Cornell.  Donnie was dominating throughout the match and scored the winning takedown just before the match ended.  Donnie looked like he was ready to compete for a national title in both matches.

157 – Justin Lister scored two big wins this week over nationally ranked competitors.  Tuesday, he got a good win over #14 Lester of Okalhoma in a back and forth match that saw him score a reversal and back points to win.  It was a gutsy performance after not being on the mat all week due to an injury.  Yesterday, he pinned Eifert in just under two minutes.  He got on the attack early and ran his opponent over with a half for the fall.  Like Donnie, Justin looked great and is wrestling like he is ready to compete for a national title.

165 – Joe Chamish started both dual meets at 165 pounds as Matt Kaylor bumped up to 174.  Joe had a tall order ahead of him as he wrestled #20 Graham of Oklahoma and #1 Dake of Cornell.  Joe fought hard and did his best to put the team in a position to win the dual meets.  He lost by major decision to Graham and by fall late in the match to Dake.  Joe needs to believe in his ability as he can compete with anyone when he believes in himself.

174 – Matt Kaylor bumped up for the weekend to 174 pounds and won both of his matches.  He wrestled aggressively and looked great in both matches against larger opponents.  He nearly scored a major decision against Armato of Oklahoma.  He picked up a solid win against nationally ranked Peppelman of Cornell yesterday.  Matt did a great job of moving forward and controlling the hand fighting in both matches.  He was constantly on the attack and is more than capable of being an All-American this season if he continues to wrestle like he did this week.

184 – Nate Schiedel had two completely different performances this week.  On Tuesday, he wrestled a great match beating #20 Schmidtke of Oklahoma (he ended Schiedel’s season at the national tournament last year).  Nate had great leg attacks and scored off bottom in the match.  He also had some impressive mat returns.  Nate had an All-American performance Tuesday.  Yesterday, he did not wrestle nearly as well.  He lost to #3 Bosak by major decision 8-0.  Nate’s shots were not crisp and he did not set them up as well.  Also, he did not do a very good job getting off bottom.  I think that it was just an off day for Nate as I know that he bounce back and contend for All-American honors this season.

197 – Cody Reed had a rough week.  He lost his matches to #1 Simaz of Cornell and nationally ranked Hall of Oklahoma.  In the match with Hall, he did not do enough in the first period to win.  He was very passive and did not start wrestling till the second period.  It was a little too late for him to start wrestling and Hall squeaked out the win by the skin of his teeth 7-6.  Cody got down on himself and I don’t think he picked himself back up enough for his next match.  He did not wrestle with confidence against Simaz.  He needs to do a better job regrouping after a tough loss and has to realize just how good he is.  Once he does that, the sky is the limit for him.

HWT – Nick Gwiazdowski picked up two good wins this week and is diversifying his repertoire.  He is opening up more on his feet with some different attacks.  He beat Colling of Okalhoma who came into the match on a hot streak and Jochym of Cornell.  He controlled the match with Colling and scored on his feet.  He got off bottom easily in the second and in the third we had him pick bottom so he can get better there as top is Colling’s best position.  I was disappointed that Nick did not get off bottom in the third but he will continue to work to get better there.  He majored Jochym hitting him with everything but the kitchen sink.  Nick can compete with and beat anyone in the country.

The Bearcats compete this weekend at the CAA Duals in Fairfax, VA.