It might have been nice if the Boston University wrestling team had given Division III Springfield College a warm welcome to Division I and the big city. The Terriers (5-1, 3-1 CAA) gave the previously unbeaten Pride (8-1) no such greeting on Tuesday, slamming home the first 21 points en route to a 27-15 victory at Case Gymnasium.
‘I thought we wrestled good; Springfield is a good team,’ praised BU coach Carl Adams. ‘That was a big match for us. They were a good team and we had to wrestle hard to beat them.’
Junior 165-pounder Leighton Brady had higher expectations for the team.
‘I think we should have probably shut those guys out, but that’s how it goes sometimes,’ Brady said.
The night started with sophomore Rayes Gonzales knocking off Springfield junior Mark Mendes 7-4 at 157 pounds. Brady followed with a pin at 165 to give the Terriers a 9-0 lead.
‘I don’t get very many pins, so that was good,’ he said.
The Terriers extended their lead at the higher weights, as junior Benjamin Schilens knocked off Pride junior Mike McWilliams 8-5 at 174 pounds. Terrier senior Ed Strauss followed with an 11-3 win over sophomore P.J. Rovinelli at 184. Senior captain Chad Grant then recorded a technical fall with a 17-2 lead at 197 pounds as BU’s lead swelled to its widest margin, 21-0.
‘Ed [Strauss] wrestled really well,’ Adams said. ‘The team wrestled really well.’
Freshman Phillip McGeough gave Springfield its first points by edging out Terrier sophomore heavyweight Courtney Howard, 3-2. BU regained control, however, when 125-pound freshman Mike Galorenzo dominated junior Justin Friend for an 11-4 win.
After forfeiting the 133 pound weight class, Terrier sophomore Joey Rivera returned from injury to face the number one wrestler in Division III at 141 pounds. Rivera battled and held a late lead before being pinned by Springfield senior Keith Poloskey in the closing seconds.
‘I thought Joey Rivera wrestled really well,’ Adams said. ‘He lost right at the end to the kid who is ranked number one in Division III, and he outwrestled him the whole match. That was a little disappointing for Joey.’
Another top-ranked Pride wrestler closed out the match for Springfield, but BU’s Justin Blumenthal was up for the challenge. The freshman took the 149 pound match by a 12-10 score over Springfield senior Billy Ivatts, who is the No. 1 wrestler in New England Division III. This closed out the scoring at 27-15, a result with which Adams was pleased.
‘There were some competitive matches,’ Adams said. ‘They weren’t going to roll over. They were 8-0, and if a team is 8-0, they have something going on as far as I’m concerned, even at the Division III level.’
Only a match at Brown University on Jan. 18 stands in the way of BU’s conference schedule, which begins on Jan. 24 in Fairfax, Va. against Old Dominion University. Brady is optimistic about the Terriers’ prospects as they head into a key stretch of their season.
‘We’re looking pretty good. We are pretty healthy,’ Brady pointed out. ‘We got a little trouble at 133 — we had to forfeit tonight — but we’re looking pretty good going into the conference stretch.’
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