2005-06 Wrestling Preview
"Why not us?" That's the question the Bloomsburg University first-year head coach John Stutzman will ask his team to answer this season.
Last year, the Huskies won the 2005 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) title and finished fifth in the Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) tournament. In February, Bloomsburg cracked the top 25 nationally for the first time in four seasons.
"The more I look at it, the more I think about it and the more I talk about it, I preach the team concept; it's not about the individual," Stutzman said. "For me to be good as a coach, for this program to be good, we have to have a good team."
Last year, the Huskies sent six wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis. This year, Stutzman wants to improve that number by at least one.
"I want to win," he said. "My goals are simple: I want to have seven to ten NCAA qualifiers, two All-Americans and a national team ranking in the top 20."
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In 2005, Jim Bertulis and Mike Sees, both EWL Champions, made the trip, along with Tony Curto and Mike Spaid. Bryan Hart, a 2004 NCAA qualifier, will also be back in the lineup for the Huskies. Bloomsburg's other two 2005 NCAA qualifiers, Chad Hoare and Bryce Hasseman, both graduated, but Hasseman will switch roles and stay on as an assistant, along with Cleveland State graduate, Phil Mansueto.
"I think Phil and Bryce will bring something different to the room," Stutzman said. "The guys see how hard he works and how successful he's been and they want to continue that work ethic in the room."
Looking at their opponents, Stutzman knows the task at hand in repeating as PSAC Champions and moving up in the EWL.
"Edinboro is a much-improved team this year and Lock Haven's going to be gunning for us," he said. "The PSAC conference is going to be better as a whole. Its our job to build the guys' confidence have them ready to go; I think we'll be better because we're stronger at certain weight classes."
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With a lot of experience near the bottom of the lineup, Stutzman expects his higher weights to step up.
"I think we have a great lineup from 125-165 pounds, but for us to be successful, 174 and 197 are going to have to step up," he said. "We need to wrestle hard and compete at a high level. They need to set their goals for the national tournament and work hard to win matches."
125-The Huskies will be deep this season at 125 pounds, with Mike Sees returning after going 21-3 last season. Sees finished the year with a 14-0 dual meet record and was an EWL Champion.
"Sees right now has the best attitude I've seen," Stutzman said. "He's more excited about the sport and he's trained all summer with Coach Mansueto. He's got a good shot of being an All-American if we train him right."
Justin Thomas also returns for the Huskies after spending last season serving a year in Iraq with the U.S. Army. Thomas is a guy who Stutzman is "real high on." Freshman Kyle Mowery could also see mat time after finishing with over 100 career wins at Montgomery High School.
133-Hart will return to the lineup at 133 pounds this season after a red-shirt year in 2004-05. Last season, Bryan Hart won 16 matches at 141 pounds in open tournaments after a 24-12 record and NCAA appearance in his freshman campaign.
"We're looking for Bryan to provide that same stability that Tony [Curto] did last year," Stutzman said. "We need him to win some matches for us and get back to the national tournament."
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Backing up Hart will be Ricky Donald, a freshman out of Bloomsburg High School, that made two Pennsylvania State tournament appearances.
"Ricky's a tough kid; he's going to push Hart," Stutzman said. "He'll see a lot of mat time."
141-Brad Forbes will get the nod at 141 pounds in one of the Huskies' deepest weight classes. Forbes, 16-9 last year, took second at the PSAC tournament and finished sixth at the EWL championships, despite wrestling injured.
"Forbes is a guy who's never been healthy. He wrestled EWLs with a broken hand last year," Stutzman said. "He's going to be really good this year; I expect him to contend, not only for an EWL title, but to be an All-American."
Joe Hasseman and Dan Tramontozzi, a freshman from Kittatiny High School. Hasseman went 3-4 in dual matches last season at 133 pounds, while Tremontozzi placed third at 140 pounds in the New Jersey state tournament last year.
Tony Curto will move up a weight class beginning in the second half of the season. Last year, Curto was a NCAA qualifier after placing fifth at the EWL tournament and taking second at the PSAC Championships. He finished the year with a 22-12 record and had seven pins.
149-Darren Kern and George Hickman will compete for the starting spot at 149 pounds. Hickman went 8-7 at 149 last season with a 14-20 overall record in his freshman year. He got a big dual-match win over Edinboro and took fourth at the PSAC tournament. As a red-shirt, Kern went 16-12 in open tournaments and Stutzman is expecting a big year from him.
"I'm real high on Kern," he said. "He's probably an 141-pounder, but I want to get him in the lineup. He trains real hard, does everything right and lives the right lifestyle."
157-After a red-shirt season last year, Aric Furhman will get the job for the Huskies. He went 20-9 in open tournaments last year and had eight pins.
"Aric's going to be a stud for us," Stutzman said. "He's athletic, he's got great lungs and I'm expecting a lot from him. Every tournament he's ever been in, he's placed. He competes hard."
Alex Conover, a freshman from Mendham High School will back up Furhman. Conover finished sixth in the New Jersey state tournament last season at 140 pounds.
165-2005 EWL Champion and NCAA national qualifier Jim Bertulis will get the nod for the Huskies at this weight. Bertulis was 33-8 last year and went 14-2 in dual matches.
"Jim his working harder than he's ever worked and he has a chance to become an All-American this season," Stutzman said. "His work ethic is better than it ever has been and I think the reason he's training so hard is because he knows guys will be gunning for him. He had a good year last year and he'll be one of our captains this season."
Jason Crawford and Dan Kaczmarski will back up Bertulis. Crawford recorded 100 career wins at Wyalusing High School and also made a PIAA state tournament appearance.
174-Frank Beasley will step up to fill the shoes of Bryce Hasseman after his NCAA-qualifying season in 2005. Beasley is a transfer from Lincoln Junior College where he was an All-American in 2003. Stutzman believes Beasley gives the Huskies an edge at 174 pounds.
"We're a better team with him at 174," he said. "He could drop down to 165, but with him and Jim at these two weight classes, we'll be stronger."
Backing up Beasley will be Andrew Jordan and Brad Bartrum. Jordan is a sophomore transfer from Old Dominion. Jordan compiled an 85-20 career record at St. Mark's in Delaware and was a two-time state runner up. Bartrum, out of Detroit Central Catholic, was a 2005 state runner up at the 170-pound weight class and was 51-4 in his senior season.
184-Following a knee injury last season, Nate Shirk will return to the starting slot. Shirk had an 18-17 record, finishing fifth at the PSAC tournament and sixth at the EWL Championships.
"I expect big things out of him [Shirk]. He's just a tough kid," Stutzman said. "He's really good and I think that he could be in the EWL final. He's another guy who, and I don't want to say that he didn't work hard the last two years, but I think now he's got a lot more intensity and that's because he has great workout partners and he's very motivated."
Backing up Shirk will be Chris Swan, a PIAA state qualifier, who Stutzman describes as "a worker who is a very determined athlete who trains at a high level" and Ryan Davidson, a freshman from Randolph High School, who finished seventh in the New Jersey state tournament as a senior.
197-Jesse Hasseman will move up a weight class after spending last season at 184 pounds. Hasseman was 8-26 a year ago, with all eight wins by pin. Stutzman said he's improved in the off-season.
"He's more mature now. Last year we really fed him to the wolves," he said. "He wrestled a lot of national qualifiers and an NCAA Champion. He has to be better and win matches for us."
Brian Willis and Blaine Cohick will back up Hasseman. Willis, as a red-shirt last year, went 6-8 in open tournaments. Over the summer, Willis took eighth-place at the Fila Junior National Championships in the freestyle bracket at 96 kilograms.
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"He's really talented. He had good off-season training and if he gets his weight down, he could have a good year for us," Stutzman said.
Cohick is a freshman out of Loyalsock High School who took sixth in last year's PIAA state tournament at 189 pounds.
HWT-NCAA qualifier Mike Spaid will return for the Huskies at the heavyweight position. Spaid, despite a 2-8 start last season, went 2-2 at the NCAA tournament. He spent the summer training, including working out at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Spaid also competed at the Fila Junior National Championships where he finished third in the freestyle bracket at 120 kilograms.
"He wasn't confident when he first got here; he thought it was going to be just like high school and thought guys were just going to roll over for him and they weren't going to fight him," Stutzman said. "He had a hard time adjusting to the work ethic, the workouts, controlling his weight. Now he knows what to expect and he's more confident. He believes in himself and that's huge."
Going into the year, Stutzman has high hopes for the team both on the mat and off it.
" I'm a really positive person by nature; I preach to them living the right lifestyle, socially, athletically and academically," he said. "If the team buys into my philosophy, we'll be good. If they don't we'll be average and I don't want to be average."
With high expectations, Stutzman doesn't want to come off as if he's pressuring the team. He knows winning comes with hard work and dedication; reaching that ultimate potential.
"I don't want to put pressure on these guys, but we need to win. We need to win today, not yesterday," he said. "I'm going to keep asking them, 'Why not us?' We're going to train hard. I have high goals for this team."