After a long wait, the Quakers have finally hit the mats.
Penn wrestling launched its season this past Sunday in Bethlehem, Pa. at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. While there were many strong individual performances amongst the Red and Blue, sophomore Cross Wasilewski’s showing stood out.
Wasilewski went 3-0 in the 149 bracket, dominating his weight class. This is the second-straight year that a Quaker has won a Hammer Award at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic, an honor granted to the overall winner of a weight class at the event.
“We had been beating each other up for the past six months in training, so we were all really excited to get on the mat,” Wasilewski said. “Last year, I made it to the finals but took second and came up a little short on that hammer. It felt really good to get the dub in my second year.”
In his three matchups, Wasilewski defeated Cole Rhemrev of Indiana, Nate Lucier of Binghamton, and Connor Pierce of Penn State in the final. The Penn sophomore pinned Rhemrev in the first period, shut out Lucier 12-0, and won a close 4-2 battle against Pierce to take home the title.
“I have a lot of respect for my opponents, especially in my finals matchup,” Wasilewski said. “Penn State is one of the best programs in the country, so [Pierce] is not someone to be taken lightly. I needed to have a really well-executed match. I had a good game plan with [assistant] coach Darian [Cruz] going in and was able to get the job done.”
Wasilewski credited his improvement in his second year to his coaching staff and teammates. Head coach Matt Valenti is now in the midst of his first season leading the team after Roger Reina stepped down from the position. Reina is sticking around this season as head coach emeritus.
“I have seen the program evolve over the past few years,” Wasilewski said. “I give credit for my performance to the people around me. Our culture has had such a significant impact on my growth. I’m really motivated to come in every day because I enjoy being around my teammates, and they inspire me. I’m miles ahead, better than my old high school self, because of how much our culture makes me enjoy getting to work each day. Coach Valenti instilled a lot of confidence in the team. He’s very steady, and he keeps us on track.”
“Wrestling is a really emotional sport, so it’s important to stay grounded,” he added. “I also give a lot of credit to coach Reina. He’s still doing so much, and he’s kind of the guy I lean on if I’m in a mental rut. He’s a great resource to have.”
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Although Wasilewski would be the only Quaker to win the hammer on the day, some of his teammates saw victories of their own. Freshmen Davis Motyka (125), Deven Casey (133), Nathan Taylor (141), Isaias Rodriguez-Jimenez (165), Caden Bellis (174), and Brian Heard (174) all won their finals matches in their brackets. Sophomore Paul Ognissanti (165) was also victorious in his final match. Ognissanti described his takeaways after opening his season.
“After getting rebracketed into another pool, I really wanted to win my last match,” Ognissanti said. “Overall, I thought I performed well. We’ve been training hard all preseason, and I was happy to earn some wins. I was able to walk away knowing some areas where I am looking to improve going forward. Closing out matches when winning is something that we’ve been working on a lot in practice and can keep getting better at.”
Bellis, Casey, Heard, Motyak, Taylor, Rodriguez-Jimenez, Liam Carlin, Greyson Meak, and Wyatt Stout — all freshmen — debuted at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. Six members of the Class of 2029 earned final victories. As the team progresses throughout the season, it will look to assess itself in preparation for the Ivy League and NCAA Championships.
“Goal setting is definitely something very important for the team,” Ognissanti said. “The kind of goals you set is also very important. My personal goal is to achieve my fullest potential as a wrestler on and off the mat, rather than getting specific wins in certain matches over certain wrestlers. A lot of us are working on getting a little bit better in a specific area, at a specific move or position. We don’t want our goals to be finite; we want them to be things that continually challenge us so there is always room for growth.”
This weekend, Penn travels to Mount Pleasant, S.C., to wrestle in the Throwdown on the Yorktown. The team will take on Campbell in an event hosted on the USS Yorktown CV-10 aircraft carrier.
