Spring Break
Wrestling starting strong at Messiah Open
Issue date: 11/8/07
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The Hopkins wrestling team started their season with a trip to the hills of Grantham, Penn. this Saturday to compete in the Messiah Open. The Blue Jay squad, customarily light in number, were an eye-opener to fellow competitors as 26 Hopkins wrestlers stepped off the bus. The team was intimidating in the size of their squad but proved to be even more so once they set foot on the mat.
Hopkins tore apart the competition, finishing with 96 team points and placing second overall under host team Messiah. The Jays finished with two individual champions, senior 184-pounder and team captain Eric Fishel and junior 197-pounder Tyler Schmidt.
Defending Centennial Conference champion Eric Fishel had a bye in the first round, and after a long wait, hit the mat ready to wrestle. Fishel toppled Ursinus's JJ Welter 5-0 and pinned Ursinus's Nate Murren to earn his berth in the finals. In a situation that he knew all too well, Fishel won the tournament with a final decision over Matt McHugh of Messiah.
Schmidt was faced with a first-round bye as well. This, however, was more of a problem for the 197-pounder. Schmidt hadn't stepped on a mat all week due to illness. Tacking on a brutal five-hour wait in the first round to anticipate his first match, Schmidt was a little nervous when he finally stepped on the mat. However, one wouldn't be able to tell from how he wrestled. Schmidt pinned Ursinus's Brendon Quinones to reach the finals, where he fought past McDaniel's Ferris Bond in a 10-5 battle of leg-riding to take home the championship. Though the score may not reveal it, Schmidt's fight was not an easy one.
"I suspect the coaches scouted me pretty heavily for the finals," Schmidt said. "Once I started the match, it seemed that he knew my shots, and more importantly, my leg riding. I didn't have any problems taking him down from neutral, but he did a good job of keeping me from turning him once I put in legs."
Because of their success in the previous season, both wrestlers were number-one seeds going into the tournament. It was the Blue Jay freshman squad that had something to prove. No one knew who the freshman wrestlers were when they first stepped foot on the mat, but by the time they finished their last matches, they had made names for themselves.
Hopkins tore apart the competition, finishing with 96 team points and placing second overall under host team Messiah. The Jays finished with two individual champions, senior 184-pounder and team captain Eric Fishel and junior 197-pounder Tyler Schmidt.
Defending Centennial Conference champion Eric Fishel had a bye in the first round, and after a long wait, hit the mat ready to wrestle. Fishel toppled Ursinus's JJ Welter 5-0 and pinned Ursinus's Nate Murren to earn his berth in the finals. In a situation that he knew all too well, Fishel won the tournament with a final decision over Matt McHugh of Messiah.
Schmidt was faced with a first-round bye as well. This, however, was more of a problem for the 197-pounder. Schmidt hadn't stepped on a mat all week due to illness. Tacking on a brutal five-hour wait in the first round to anticipate his first match, Schmidt was a little nervous when he finally stepped on the mat. However, one wouldn't be able to tell from how he wrestled. Schmidt pinned Ursinus's Brendon Quinones to reach the finals, where he fought past McDaniel's Ferris Bond in a 10-5 battle of leg-riding to take home the championship. Though the score may not reveal it, Schmidt's fight was not an easy one.
"I suspect the coaches scouted me pretty heavily for the finals," Schmidt said. "Once I started the match, it seemed that he knew my shots, and more importantly, my leg riding. I didn't have any problems taking him down from neutral, but he did a good job of keeping me from turning him once I put in legs."
Because of their success in the previous season, both wrestlers were number-one seeds going into the tournament. It was the Blue Jay freshman squad that had something to prove. No one knew who the freshman wrestlers were when they first stepped foot on the mat, but by the time they finished their last matches, they had made names for themselves.
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