Wrestling says 'Aloha' to lesser opponents

The Penn wrestling team finishes winter break by winning the Aloha Classic. The Penn wrestling team was fortunate to get out of Chicago when it did. If it had left the Midlands Championships at Northwestern University just one day later, it would have been buried under the worst blizzard in 20 years. Instead, the wrestlers were buried under sunshine in Hawaii, gearing up for the Aloha Classic January 2. And after two days of competition as intense as the weather outside Welsh-Ryan Arena, the Quakers were happy about the change of scenery and the result -- a 3-0 performance, earning a tie for the title with No. 16 Purdue. The strong performance was important for the Quakers after what Penn coach Roger Reina called a "bittersweet" outing at the Midlands. "We had our highest team finish there ever [sixth place]? but at the same time we had three seeded wrestlers who didn't place," Reina said. "Our group rebounded well, and stepped into the dual meet portion of the season." The Aloha Classic debuted with an unusual dual meet format. Each of the six teams at the meet was paired up against opponents for dual meets. Because both Penn and Purdue went undefeated through their duals, a co-championship was declared. "I think we competed well there, especially given the fact that coming off the Midlands -- which was a rugged two days -- we only had one day once we were down there to get ready to compete," Reina said. "Generally speaking I thought we competed well at almost every weight." First up for the Quakers was No. 24 Brigham Young University, which Penn dispatched 20-12 in its closest competition of the day. The BYU dual featured a highly anticipated bout at 165 pounds between Penn's Richard Springman, No. 8 in the country, and BYU's Rangi Smart, ranked No. 2. The match was close throughout. Up 3-2 in the third period, Smart was given a stalling warning. But the referee did not award the pressing Springman a point that would have sent the match into overtime. "Springman had a lot of pressure on [Smart] in the third period," Reina said. "It was very possible that the official could have awarded a stalling point for Springman in the match, but it didn't go up on the board. "It came down to a one-takedown match, very, very, very close." In BYU's matchup with Harvard, Smart also defeated No. 6 Joey Killar by a 3-2 score. Springman took out his aggression on his next opponents. He pinned Air Force's Terry Parham in 3:33 and beat Portland State's Jeremy Wilson 12-2. After BYU, Penn cruised, defeating Air Force 32-9 and Portland State 34-21. The victories earned them the championship, shared with Purdue, which beat Harvard, Air Force, Portland State and BYU. Yoshi Nakamura (157 lbs.) and Justin Bravo (125 lbs.) picked up right where they left off at the Midlands. The two fifth-place winners both went undefeated at the Aloha Classic. "I think Nakamura had a pretty exceptional trip," Reina said. "He wrestled 15 matches and he went 13-2." Reina said that the Midlands Championships and the Aloha Classic were a good tune-up for the impending dual meet season, which kicks off January 23 at No. 8 Central Michigan. "It definitely gets us a step closer," Reina said. But if Chicago is any indication, Penn cannot afford to cool down with the return to chilly Philadelphia. The Chippewas finished third at the Midlands, 19 points ahead of the Quakers. "We had seven wrestlers advance to the second day of competition at the Midlands, Central Michigan had eight," Reina said. "The difference was that in the morning round on the second day, Central Michigan went eight-for-eight with four pins, and we went three-for-seven."

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