Blue Jay wrestlers battle for spots
It's a Saturday night and Goldfarb Gymnasium is packed with fans, parents and alumni ready to welcome the beginning of the Hopkins wrestling season. The Black and Blue Brawl is traditionally the biggest event of the year for the team, yet it's a competition in which the team as a whole has no opponent.
At the beginning of each season, the wrestling team divides into two separate squads: the black team and the blue team. The Black and Blue Brawl is a full match between these two teams, giving the wrestlers a chance to compete for a starting spot in the lineup and giving the coaching staff an opportunity to showcase and examine some of the team's young talent.
It is a tradition implemented by fifth-year head coach Keith Norris that traditionally draws in a number of parent and alumni spectators as well as a large pool of potential recruits who get the opportunity of seeing first-hand what Hopkins wrestling is all about.
One problem with the Black and Blue Brawl is the fact that the competitors have been practicing with each other for weeks.
Members of the respective black and blue teams traditionally face off against their in-practice wrestling partners and are generally familiar with their opponents' techniques and styles. What results is typically a series of slow yet competitively close matches.
This proved to be the case in the opening match as sophomore Adam Stevens squared off against Baltimore freshman Teno Boone. After a first-period stalemate, Boone scored an escape in the second leading to yet another long series of shoot-and-defend with zero scoring. Stevens scored an escape in the third period, but not before Boone was able to earn the one riding time point that would lead him to win the match by a score of 2-1.
After a 133-pound forfeit to Paul Marcello, junior team captain Rocky Barilla faced Ohio freshman Matt Nelson in the 141-pound division. Barilla was able to score two takedown points in the first period and an escape in the second to secure a three-point lead entering the third period. Nelson earned an escape in the third with 1:30 left on the clock, but Barilla was able to fend off Nelson's shots to stall out a 4-1 victory.
At the beginning of each season, the wrestling team divides into two separate squads: the black team and the blue team. The Black and Blue Brawl is a full match between these two teams, giving the wrestlers a chance to compete for a starting spot in the lineup and giving the coaching staff an opportunity to showcase and examine some of the team's young talent.
It is a tradition implemented by fifth-year head coach Keith Norris that traditionally draws in a number of parent and alumni spectators as well as a large pool of potential recruits who get the opportunity of seeing first-hand what Hopkins wrestling is all about.
One problem with the Black and Blue Brawl is the fact that the competitors have been practicing with each other for weeks.
Members of the respective black and blue teams traditionally face off against their in-practice wrestling partners and are generally familiar with their opponents' techniques and styles. What results is typically a series of slow yet competitively close matches.
This proved to be the case in the opening match as sophomore Adam Stevens squared off against Baltimore freshman Teno Boone. After a first-period stalemate, Boone scored an escape in the second leading to yet another long series of shoot-and-defend with zero scoring. Stevens scored an escape in the third period, but not before Boone was able to earn the one riding time point that would lead him to win the match by a score of 2-1.
After a 133-pound forfeit to Paul Marcello, junior team captain Rocky Barilla faced Ohio freshman Matt Nelson in the 141-pound division. Barilla was able to score two takedown points in the first period and an escape in the second to secure a three-point lead entering the third period. Nelson earned an escape in the third with 1:30 left on the clock, but Barilla was able to fend off Nelson's shots to stall out a 4-1 victory.
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