The Seton Hill University (SHU) wrestling team ended their first season last week with a 36-6 loss to Erie’s Gannon University. The team ended the season with a match record of three wins and 11 losses.
During the two tournaments in which they competed, the Griffins made a good showing with one wrestler placing in each tournament and with several getting just a step or two away from placing. All in all, it was a successful season.
Being that it was the first ever wrestling season at SHU, a different measure for success is used to determine how the season went. Starting a program required hard work and dedication.
By Shawn Conway,
Contributor
The Seton Hill University (SHU) wrestling team ended their first season last week with a 36-6 loss to Erie’s Gannon University. The team ended the season with a match record of three wins and 11 losses.
During the two tournaments in which they competed, the Griffins made a good showing with one wrestler placing in each tournament and with several getting just a step or two away from placing. All in all, it was a successful season.
Being that it was the first ever wrestling season at SHU, a different measure for success is used to determine how the season went. Starting a program required hard work and dedication.
“Wrestling is one of those sports where it never really ends,” said Shawn Short, a freshman on the team.
“To prepare for next season we start practicing again in about a week.”
Chelsea Oliver photo
According to Aaron Pascazi, a sophomore, the team’s first season was a building process, and there was a lot of adjusting to the NCAA rules in competition and in practice as well. “I think overall for a very young team we did well. We held our own at the end of the year against a tough team in UPJ ranked 6th in the nation. We have a lot of promising young freshmen who have done well at the state level in high school and many red shirts who will be starting next year,” said Pascazi.
“Right now the focus will be lifting and freestlye wrestling over the summer to stay ready and next year we are going to come in with the mindset that we would like to be competing in the national tournament come March,” he added.
Logan Downes, a sophomore moved to the school late and had to jump into the training regimen. “I transferred here for the second semester,” he said. “So my goal was to get into shape fast and compete in as many tournaments as I could before the season was over.”
Even those who had wrestling experience had to work hard to earn their spot on the team. “Knowing that there was a big difference from high school wrestling to college wrestling, I wanted to make sure I was ready for it by being in the best possible shape I could be in,” said Short.
All those hours training had a test: the first tournament. While the team as a whole may have not gotten to place, 13 of 15 wrestlers did have at least one win. “Wrestling is when two competitors go out and you actually see which guy is better,” Downes said. “He isn’t good because of his team, it is because of him and how he prepared himself.”
Wrestler Ron Oswald went 4-2 and became the only SHU wrestler to place in the tournament, with Quade Miller falling short one match. The next tournament would see Dallas Evans finish by placing.
As the season wraps up the team does what every team does when they roll up the mats for a season: prepare for the next. “The practices may not be hard but in the off season is when you perfect your technique. So from being in the weight room to being back on the mats we never quit training,” said Short.
So what can we expect in the years to come with the SHU wrestling team? “The next years of SHU wrestling, people are going to witness history. We will have SHU’s first national qualifiers, All-Americans, and national champions in wrestling,” said Downes.
In short, the best is yet to come.