By Dave Diamond
With a fourth consecutive Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) conference championship under its belt, the Pride wrestling team is ready for bigger and better things.
Head coach Tom Ryan will accompany a school record nine wrestlers to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the Savvis Center in St. Louis this week.
“It’s always a very exciting time of year,” said Ryan.
Topping the list of potential national champions will be the Pride’s Jon Masa (20-9) who enters the tournament hot off of an easy victory by forfeit over Rayes Gonzales of Boston University to give him a third conference title. Chris Skretkowicz (28-2) also won his third conference championship in dominating fashion, winning the CAA Championship Tournament Most Valuable Player award. The 197-pound senior is the third-ranked wrestler in the country. He and Masa are only the ninth and tenth wrestlers in school history to win three conference championships.
Masa, ranked No. 9, will face Eddie Dahlen of Portland State in the first round, and stares at No. 8 Ben Cherrington of Boise State, and potentially Oklahoma State University’s Zack Esposito if he advances. Esposito is the top seed in the tournament.
Skretkowicz is the highest ranked Pride wrestler, and thus has the greatest opportunity to win a national championship. However, the two big hurdles that stand in his way would be the top two seeds, Jon Trenge of Lehigh, and Jake Rosholt of Oklahoma State.
“With the season he’s had, there’s no question he should contend for a national title,” Ryan said. “I just hope he doesn’t put this tournament on as high a pedestal as in the past, because a national championship is something he could certainly get.”
Masa and Skretkowicz were only two of seven Pride to win their conference championship. James Strouse, Mike Patrovich, and Paul Siemon also took their titles. For Siemon (25-7), it was his first conference championship, but the senior will be making his third appearance in the NCAA Tournament. He will face Leonel Sanchez of Cal State Fullerton in the second round.
Strouse (22-10) supplied the surprise of the CAA 157-pound bracket by defeating defending league champion Dave Miller from Rider in the finals. He will make his second trip to the NCAA Tournament, and square off against Brian Stith of Arizona State in the second round.
Patrovich is 12th in the nation, and will face Zac Fryling of West Virginia in the second round.
Meanwhile, the youth movement within Pride Wrestling continues to surpass all expectations as two freshmen took conference titles and advanced to St. Louis. Charles Griffin (27-4) and Joe Rovelli (22-7) took their weight classes, while another freshmen, Dave Tomasette (18-12) lost in the finals for 125 against Christian Taylor of Old Dominion. Tomasette still grabs a bye in the first round of the NCAAs, and will face Duquesne’s Jonathan Bittinger.
“They’ve really stepped up and done an unbelievable job,” Ryan said of the freshmen.
Griffin and Rovelli will both strongly be considered for the CAA Rookie of the Year award. Griffin will face Matt Ciasulli of Lehigh in the second round, while Rovelli will wrestle Pittsburgh’s Keith Gavin. The three will gain precious experience in the NCAA field, while experiences this season for one Pride wrestler may cost him a national championship.
Senior Ricky LaForge is the wild card for the Pride in the tournament. The gutsy LaForge (24-6) has battled injuries all season long, and has left nearly every match, win or lose, grimacing in intense pain. The best example, most recently, was his medical forfeit in the finals at the CAA Tournament. Knowing the same could happen at any point during his NCAA tournament appearance, coach Ryan understands that LaForge’s impressive ability to fight through pain may not be enough if his body cannot respond.
“Life lessons sometimes won’t be learned until years later,” Ryan said. Ryan knows it is difficult for LaForge to find an explanation for the injury hurdles this year. “Right now its tough for him to understand what those lessons are.”
LaForge enters the tournament 10th in the nation and will face Matt Fittery of Lock Haven in the first round. Should he advance, he is lined up to face Teyon Ware from Oklahoma, the No. 2 wrestler in the nation.
The brackets were released a week before the tournament, which begins March 17. Pride wrestlers now begin their preparation after a season that those who watch the Pride would consider a sub-par year.
“I know those outside of the team would say this is a down year,” Ryan said, “I like this team and I’m happy that I’m getting most of them back next year.”