WRESTLING
By: Steve Feitl
The Bulldog wrestling team saw two of its grapplers capture individual crowns at the Harry S. Truman Wrestling Tournament in Bristol, Pa., over the weekend.
But the young Hopewell squad did well in the team competition as well, finishing fifth in the eight-team field.
Senior Matt Strattman at 152 and junior Mike Williams at 275 were the two Bulldogs to grab individual titles in the tourney.
Strattman returned to the mats this season, after missing all of his junior campaign with a broken elbow.
Head coach Bob Crognale credited Strattman with returning even stronger this season and surprising many wrestling observers with his performance.
Along the way to his first-place finish, he had to face many tough foes, including an opponent from Hightstown that defeated Strattman, 13-11, earlier this season.
This time around, however, it was the Hopewell wrestler coming out on top, 7-4, in the semifinals.
"Matt has really come on strong this season," Crognale said. "He’s worked real hard and he’s doing a good job for us right now."
Williams has also been strong from the get-go for the Bulldogs. He has suffered only one loss all season, and even that came in overtime.
In the tournament, he had to overcome a highly-touted wrestler, Matt Pape from Conwell Egan. Pape has already finished second in two other tournaments this season, but Williams dispatched him this past weekend on his way to the 275-pound title.
"He’s a real good kid," Crognale said of Williams. "He works hard and he wants to get better every day."
While the two individual titles stand out, Crognale was also quite pleased with his team’s performance overall.
Aside from the two first-place finishes, the Bulldogs also took two silver medals and three bronze.
Joe Griffin at 135 and Corey Agin at 119 both took second in their respective weight classes. Will Randall (160), Ryan Hamor (112) and Brian Yaros (171) all took third.
The Bulldogs were short a man at 189 due to illness and sent three freshman starters to the freshmen portion of the tournament.
In all, seven of the nine entrants captured medals, and that was something Crognale was pleased to see.
Hopewell finished with 114 points to take fifth, but the third- and fourth-place teams each only had 117 and 116.5 points respectively. If Hopewell had a few other entrants, the Bulldogs very easily could have slid up two places in the final standings.
Now the Bulldogs must turn their attention back to the Colonial Valley Conference schedule and tough match against Notre Dame this Friday.
While the Irish are talented, Crognale doesn’t believe his team is out of the running.
"We’ve got a chance," Crognale said. "There’s no reason why we can’t compete with them."