By Ron Egan
Let the games begin. With a regular season that saw the Pride finish 15-5. It must now gear up for the most exciting part of the year, the postseason.
The No. 12 Pride head to Rider University on Friday for the start of the two-day CAA Championships. Two-time defending CAA Tournament champions, the Pride will bring five nationally ranked wrestlers to the tournament. In the latest CAA rankings, released Feb. 24, the Pride boast five wrestlers ranked first in the CAA, as well as four other wrestlers ranked in the top six in the conference.
The nine ranked wrestlers make the Pride the favorite to repeat as conference champions, although stiff competition is expected from No. 20 Rider, which feature three nationally ranked wrestlers on its roster.
In order to qualify for Nationals, a wrestler must either reach the finals, or hope to receive one of the seven wild card bids. In total, the CAA will send 27 wrestlers to St. Louis for the NCAA Championships.
The Pride enter the CAA championships a healthy team. Junior 157-pounder Paul Siemon, ranked first in the CAA, returns this weekend from a shoulder injury that sidelined him since the CAA duals on Jan. 24. The only weight class in which the Pride will not send a wrestler is 133 pounds, as junior Ricky LaForge will not be wrestling for the remainder of the season.
The coaching staff is preparing the team accordingly, according to junior All-American Chris Skretkowicz, who said: “Last week’s practice was hard, but this week we are tappering off so we can perform our best on Saturday.”
At 125 pounds, the Pride boasts the top wrestler in the conference, senior No. 6 Tom Noto. A two-time defending CAA champ, Noto will face competition from Drexel’s Rob Rebmann and Rider’s Bobby Stinson. Noto looks to avenge a loss to Rebmann earlier this season at the Cortland Open.
At 141 pounds, red-shirt freshman John Manarte looks to earn a spot at Nationals in a wide-open weight class. Ranked No. 6 in the CAA, Manarte has knocked off the No. 4 wrestler in the conference, and dropped close decisions to the No. 2, 3, and 5 wrestlers.
Following Manarte at 149 pounds is fellow red-shirt freshman James Strouse. Strouse, No. 5 in the CAA, has already beaten the No. 4 and No. 6 wrestlers, and dropped a tight 6-5 decision to George Mason’s Adrian Austin, No. 1 in the CAA, at the CAA Duals. Both Manarte and Strouse will look to record upsets and find themselves in position to earn a spot at Nationals.
Siemon (157), the top wrestler in the conference, will be seemingly unchallenged in the tournament. The No. 2 wrestler in the CAA, Boston University’s Zach Johns, was soundly defeated by Siemon 5-0 earlier this year. Rider’s Dave Miller, undefeated in the CAA this season, should contend with Johns for the second spot in the finals.
At 165 and 174 pounds, the Pride’s Ralph Everett and Noel Thompson are the top wrestlers in their respective weight classes. Everett and Thompson are both defending CAA Tournament champions, and both wrestlers have gone seemingly untouched throughout the CAA season.
Everett will see competition from Boston University’s Leighton Brady, as Thompson will have to hold off Nick Kozar of Drexel to secure the top spot on the medal stand. The tournament is the final CAA event for the two seniors, as both look to move on in securing a high seed at Nationals.
The 184-pound weight class looks to be a two-horse battle, between Rider’s Nick Catone and the Pride’s Brad Christie. The two seniors have never met before, and find themselves in a class by themselves in the conference. Catone, No. 12 nationally, will look to win his first CAA championship. Christie, the defending CAA champ, should challenge the higher ranked Catone for top honors.
The 197-pound weight class the Pride’s Chris Skretkowicz against the remainder of the CAA. Skretkowicz, No. 3, is the defending CAA champ and reigning CAA Wrestler of the Year, and has not allowed a point in CAA action this season. Chris Jones of Drexel, No. 8, will be Skretkowicz’s only challenge. At the Cortland Open, Skretkowicz dominated Jones in the finals, not giving up a point en route to a 5-0 victory.
The heavyweight class looked to be a one-man race as Rider’s Carmelo Marrero has soundly defeated every CAA opponent he has faced. However, with the Sacred Heart freshman Payam Zarrinpour’s upset victory over Marrero last week, the weight class is suddenly wide open. The Pride’s Dan Garay, No. 4 in the weight class, has beaten the No. 5 wrestler in the class, and will probably face Marrero in the semifinals in a must-win match to go to Nationals.
The Pride has never lost a CAA Tournament, and this year should be no different. The loss of Ricky Laforge, the defending 133-pound champ in the CAA, will be a blow but should not prove to be enough for any team to overtake the defending champs. With probably finalists in six weight classes, in comparison to Rider’s four probable finalists, the Pride looks to have kept enough distance between itself and the competition to bring home another title.
When all is said and done, the Hofstra Arena will have another CAA Champion wrestling banner on the walls, and the Pride will look to send at least seven wrestlers to St. Louis for a shot at a top five finish at Nationals.