Host Wrestling takes 2nd at Keystone

Heading into the final round of the Keystone Classic at the Palestra on Sunday, the Penn wrestling team trailed both Rider and Central Michigan. Yet, by the end of the tournament, the Quakers had pulled themselves to a close second, beating out five other teams -- Central Michigan, Virginia, Brown, Seton Hall and American -- and losing by a mere 4.5 points to Rider. The Quakers were led by first-place finishes from tri-captains Brett Matter (157 pounds), Rick Springman (184) and heavyweight Bandele Adeniyi-Bada, as well as junior Mike Fickell (197). And although Penn, ranked 10th nationally, had hoped to win the tournament, its quest for the trophy was hindered by the loss of three key athletes. Junior 165-pounder Yoshi Nakamura is injured, junior Justin Bravo (125) has chosen to concentrate on his studies for the semester and senior Jason Nagle (133) has taken the semester off. "You always want to win the tournament," Fickell said. "So, that was a little bit of a letdown, but we have a few guys out, which didn't help our situation." Penn got help from its reserves, though, as three placed. At 157 pounds, Matter shared the winner's platform with teammates Jon Gough and Joe Nastasi. Gough -- who beat Nastasi 4-1 in the fourth round --claimed third place with a 6-3 win over Brown's Todd Dewitt, while Nastasi took fifth with a default win over Jeremy Kirk of Virginia. Also impressive was sophomore Craig Melcher (184), who defeated two fellow teammates -- beating senior Mike Gadsby 5-4 and pinning freshman Ethan Bullock -- and benefitted from an injury default from Virginia's Jimi Massey en route to a fifth-place finish. "Melcher was an example of the kind of opportunity that this tournament provides to non-starters," Penn coach Roger Reina said. "Craig did a good job and I think he took a good step." Though some of the reserves wrestled well, it was the starters that truly shined, combining for four first-place finishes, one runner-up and one third-place. At 125 pounds, sophomore Kevin Rucci provided Penn's first big victory, winning a 7-5 decision against Seton Hall's Dave Ilaria to take third. Jody Giuricich (149) was the first Quakers representative in the finals. He lost a hard-fought 4-0 match to Rider's Derek Jenkins. Though only a freshman, Giuricich has reached the finals of both of Penn's tournaments this season. "Jody has been impressive in his first two outings as a freshman," Reina said. "We're very encouraged by his performance, but even more impressed with his work ethic, his receptiveness and his development." Giuricich was the first and only Quaker to face defeat in the finals. Penn's four other finalists -- Matter, Springman, Adeniyi-Bada and Fickell -- all took home top honors. Matter, started off the Quakers' streak by defeating Rider's Nick Harrington 13-3. It was Matter's second championship of the season; at the Ivy Kickoff Classic he won competing at 165 pounds and was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler. "Brett wrestled a fantastic tournament," Fickell said. "He didn't have much of a close match with anyone. He never stops and that's how you break an opponent." Senior Adeniyi-Bada ended Penn's tournament scoring with a 3-2 win over Rider's Marc DeFrancesco at heavyweight. Yet Adeniyi-Bada was not happy with his one-point margin of victory. "In the final match I was real tentative and wrestled that guy's match," Adeniyi-Bada said. "I want to wrestle at my level but I've been wrestling down to my competition. I'm unsatisfied because I didn't give the extra effort and really blow him out." The two most exciting matches of the tournament, however, belonged to juniors Springman and Fickell. Springman brought the crowd to its feet with his pin of Rider's Shawn Scannell at the 3:59 mark. "Rick is always an ass-kicker," Adeniyi-Bada said. "He just grinds people out, whether he is pinning them or blowing them out. That's pretty much his M.O." While Springman's match was impressive, Fickell's run at the title was nothing short of incredible. Fickell, seeded No. 5, began the tournament by pinning American's Josh Schroeder. He then met CMU's Chris Vike, a returning All-American ranked second nationally. A match which should have been close was not; Fickell dominated, emerging with an 8-1 win -- his first over an All-American. "I'm confident in my wrestlers to get the job done, but the guy was ranked No. 2 and it's early in the season," Adeniyi-Bada said. "I remember I finished my match and looked up and Mike had won. I forgot my match, ran over, gave him a big hug and was like, 'Wow!'" Beating Vike was not the end of Fickell's night. He went on to meet Rider's Todd Palmisano, who presented a unique challenge in the finals. "I knew he was a mat wrestler and had a funky style," Fickell said. "I felt that I could really take it to him on my feet so we decided to go with that." The strategy -- in which Fickell would try to repeatedly take Palmisano down for two points, then let him escape for one without ever letting him wrestle on the mat -- worked. Fickell slowly built a lead, eventually earning a technical fall by stretching the score to 21-6. "Everyone was impressed by [Fickell's] performance and happy for him," Reina said. "He has really worked hard and dedicated himself and when someone makes that kind of deep commitment and starts to reap the benefits of that commitment it's just exciting for everyone to see." Exciting for everyone, including Fickell's fellow champions who honored him with Outstanding Wrestler. "I thought Fickell did really well," Springman said. "He's getting a lot of motion going and he looks good. He is going to be tough to beat this year." The same could be said of the Quakers, as they gain more experience throughout the season. Their next chance to gain that much-needed experience will be December 6 at the Penn State Open.

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