The Penn wrestling team unofficially kicked off its season Saturday, facing off against familiar opponents: themselves.
On a team that returns seven NCAA qualifiers from last year, it was ironically the team’s nine freshmen that stood out.
“It’s hard coming in as a freshman and jumping right into the Division I competitive level,” said senior Rollie Peterkin. “I think that the freshmen this year did a great job — guys like Brad Wukie, Andrew Lenzi and Geoffrey Bostany.”
The freshmen will fill voids in the lineup at the light and middle weights to complement a returning class highlighted by senior Scott Giffin at 174 pounds and sophomore Micah Burak at the 197 pounds.
“The freshmen have really added a lot of attitude and pressure in the room,” said coach Rob Eiter. “They’re in there battling everyday with the upperclassmen keeping them honest.”
The intrasquad meet, which the team participates in annually, allows the Quakers to assess where they stand both at a technique and a conditioning standpoint.
“Its good for them to get out there before we actually wrestle true competition. It helps to get them into a routine and it gives them a trial run,” Eiter said.
After watching the meet, Eiter indicated that the biggest area in which the Quakers can improve moving forward is in its top/bottom skills.
“That’s usually the biggest area coming into the college environment that needs improvement,” Eiter said. “We’re pretty solid on our feet. I just think you can never be too good on the mat.”
The team treated the intrasquad meet like it was official; there was a scoreboard, an official and one match was contested at a time.
The quality of wrestling also mirrored that of a real match as the wrestlers all gave it their maximum efforts. The all-around effort of the team was evidenced by the fact that there was only one pin total.
“We are all friends and we live together, but when it comes to competition with each other we go 100 percent out there,” Peterkin said.
The Quakers have brought hat same intensity to every practice. The team has been practicing hard in anticipation of a season where great success is attainable.
“This is the hardest they’ve trained since I’ve been here,” Eiter said.
The team will need that intensity when they officially begin the season next weekend at the Binghamton Open.
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