The Penn wrestling team is set to begin its season this weekend at the Oklahoma Gold tournament in Brockport, N.Y. It's been a long time coming, and the anticipation for this season has been unlike any other in recent memory.
For starters, there's the new guy -- not a freshman or a transfer, but a head coach. Zeke Jones, who has logged time as an assistant at West Virginia and Arizona State, replaces former coach Roger Reina, who resigned over the summer after 19 seasons.
Jones brings impressive credentials to the table, including his long-term involvement with USA Wrestling and his time coaching the 2004 US Olympic freestyle squad. The Michigan native was an extremely technical wrestler in his competing days, and he has brought that aspect of himself to his coaching style.
"We've been training very hard for the last few weeks," senior co-captain Matt Valenti said. Jones "has presented us with a lot of new stuff."
The team's adjustment to the new coach and his style has presented its fair share of challenges. The transition has asked different things of different wrestlers.
"It's always going to be tough to adjust, but the nice thing about this sport is that it's just minor adjustments," Valenti said. "There's no huge difference; there's no certain play we need to do. It's going to be what fits you and what fits your style."
Jones' hire came just before the start of training, so both he and the team found themselves scrambling, to some extent, to make preparations in the early going. Over the past few weeks, however, things have really picked up, and the season could not start at a better time.
"I feel really good about where our conditioning level is; they're all in great shape," Jones said. "From a technical standpoint, I think we still have some work to do. But I think we're on the right track and that's the key."
Valenti himself is another reason why fans can't wait to see the Quakers on the mats this season. The senior, wrestling at 133 pounds, had a phenomenal first two years for the Red and Blue. In his freshman year, he finished with 33 wins -- the most ever by a newcomer -- en route to a top-12 NCAA finish. Coming back the next year, he notched 36 wins, won the EIWAs at 125, and attained All-America status at nationals.
Last year, he was poised to build on the success of his first two campaigns, but an early injury forced him to get season-ending surgery. Now, coming off that disappointing year in which he was unable to wrestle alongside senior All-American Matt Feast, Valenti is ready to contribute once more.
"It definitely feels good to come back after a year off," Valenti said. "I healed up after my surgery, and there are a lot of question marks surrounding guys who are injured and take a year off. I really just want to come back and prove where I'm at."
Those question marks are there, and only time will resolve them. Can the Newton, N.J., native once again earn wrestling's highest distinction: All-American status?
"I think he's on track," Jones said of his senior standout. "He's a leader of this program. His work ethic is at the top bar. I think he's doing all the things to be successful and I think he can have the kind of ending season he wants to have."
In addition to Valenti's return, the Quakers will welcome back more familiar faces to their ranks. Paul Velekei and Matt Herrington, both of whom had injuries that prevented them from wrestling last season, are good to go for the upcoming year.
Both seniors were NCAA qualifiers before their injuries and would be valuable assets to the team if they could return to that form.
Moving in to fill the void left by departing seniors Feast, Marcus Schontube, Jeff Eveleth, Mason Lenhard and others, is an extremely strong freshman class. The group includes six wrestlers who were ranked in the top 20 nationally in their respective weight classes.
"We've got a great freshman class in, some real studs who are going to step up and make a name for themselves at the national level," Valenti said.
Before penciling any of them into the starting lineup, however, Jones is taking a patient approach. There are still several spots under contention, up and down the roster, and it's anybody's guess who will fill them.
"We have wrestle-offs this weekend; that's just one indicator of who will go in the starting lineup," Jones said. "I think we will have more information after these next two weeks of our tournaments and competition. We'll find out where those freshmen will be fitting in."
The sole returning NCAA qualifier from a year ago, Dustin Wiles, is a senior co-captain. After winning the Most Improved Wrestler award, he will look to continue his improvement this season.
In very frank terms, he puts into words exactly how the Quakers are feeling right this moment.
"I think everybody's been excited to get going," he said. "We've been training real hard, and we're a little tired of beating on each other; we're ready to start doing the real stuff."
