Coming off a tough conference dual meet earlier this week, John Carroll showed their prowess at the Rochester Institute of Technology Invitational.  

Placing in nine out of the ten divisions, the Blue Streaks earned the second place spot in the tournament behind Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  

WPI won the event with 139.5 points, followed by John Carroll (132.0) and host RIT (131.5). Oneonta (98.0) and Wesleyan (86.0) rounded out the top five in the 16-team field.

Results

Out of John Carroll's 19 wrestlers, nine of them stepped atop the podium in their respective weight classes.

Sophomores Jarrod Brezovec and Seth Winkle contributed two second place finishes to JCU's hardware department in the 141 pound and 165 pound weight classes, respectively.  Brezovec won his first four matches, including pinning Colin O'Connor from Norwich in under a minute. He could not complete the perfect day, losing in a 7-5 decision against Joseph Rossetti of Williams.

Winkle followed Brezovec's suit, winning four feisty matches, three of which came by decisions of four points or less.  Winkle would be on the losing end of a 5-1 decision against Roy Forys of Wesleyan in the championship match, nonetheless garnering crucial points for the Blue & Gold.

Kyle Murray, Spencer Dusi, Jarrad Lasko, and Sam Gross contributed fourth place finishes to the Blue Streaks' cause.  Murray came out hungry, earning a TF 17-2 in his first match against Greg Fischer of Wesleyan and a shutout Major Decision of 10-0 against Case Western Reserve's Adam Kates.  Murray would be sent to the Consolation bracket in his next match, won a 5-1 decision against Chris Dean from Rochester Institute, but then unfortunately lost to David Yeh of Williams in the third place match.  Dusi began his day with three straight wins, achieving a fall in one minute twenty seconds over Colton Davis from the University of Pittsburgh. He lost in the semifinal to Andrew Desous of Oneonta, but fired back with a pin, sending him to the third place bout.  Dusi would earn fourth place after facing Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Andrew Ellis.

Lasko suffered an uncharacteristic loss to Eddie Hay of Worcester Polytechnic in his first match, but proceeded to win five consecutive matches, including shutting out Lucas Olson from Oswego in a TF 18-0.  Lasko would not wrestle in the third place match, a potential rematch against Eddie Hay and garnered the fourth position on the podium in his division. Lasko's five wins today moved him to the 17th spot of all time victories in John Carroll's record books with 87 career wins.  

Gross completed the invitational with a 5-2 record, earning fourth place and an astonishing pin in 27 seconds over the University of Pittsburgh's Nate Powley.

Danny Novak, Jimmy Suhayda, and Josh Stasek placed fifth in their 157, 185, and 285 weight classes, respectively. Novak won five matches while Suhayda and Stasek won four apiece.  All three of the competitors lost two matches during the tournament.

With the overall strong performance across the board, Blue Streak assistant coach Chad Rhoades had trouble placing a spotlight on one person, saying, "too many were twisting the volume dials to point just one out."  Rhoades touched on how this directly affects not only the team's record, but also their chemistry

"These Blue Streaks are performing as a family… in other words, we're a wolfpack," said Rhoades.

The Blue Streaks will take on crosstown rival Cleveland State University next Sunday, December 9th at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center.