Over winter break, AU Wrestling head coach Mark Cody led his wrestlers into battle at two holiday tournaments, including the Midlands Championships. Other than the national tournament in March, Midlands is considered the nation's toughest tournament, featuring the top wrestlers from each weight.
Daniel Waters, the Eagles' 174-pound senior, wrestled spectacularly well, finishing in fourth place. This did not come easily, as he lost in the second round to the eventual champion Jake Herbert, putting him in an uphill battle in the consolation bracket.
"That loss really hurt," Waters said. "I felt that I could have and should have won, but I underestimated [Herbert's] ability."
Waters was then able to wrestle all the way to the consolation finals. On his way to placing, he defeated four wrestlers ranked in the top 20, including a 9-5 decision over the No. 1 seed, Eric Haun of Northern Iowa. Waters said he hopes to have a repeat performance in March.
"There is only one national champ, but there are seven other all-Americans," said the nation's seventh-ranked 174-pound wrestler. "Wrestle-backs are where true champions display their courage, dedication and heart."
AU's 157-pound phenom Muzaffar Abdurokhmanov finished in sixth place on the weekend. Abdurokhmanov won his first four matches convincingly, which placed him in the semifinals against the nation's second-ranked 157-pounder, Alex Tirapelle.
This match was praised by those in attendance as perhaps the most exciting of the tournament. Tirapelle and Abdurokhmanov found themselves in a variety of scrambles from their feet throughout the match. One scramble landed the wrestlers off the mat onto the arena floor, where Abdurokhmanov injured his ribs. Despite taking a few injury timeouts, Abdurokhmanov finished the match by losing for the first time this season, 4-2. Cody later found it in the best interest of his wrestler to default from the tournament, which still landed him in an automatic sixth-place finish.
Also competing was 19th-ranked Josh Glenn. In his first Midlands appearance, the freshman finished with a 2-2 record on the day. Glenn said he felt that he did not compete up to his abilities but gained from the chance to wrestle some of the other top wrestlers in the nation.
A day prior, the rest of the Eagles competed at the Wilkes Open held in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Considered the "Rose Bowl of Wrestling," this competition is also one of the most popular events of the wrestling season.
All the Eagles were successful in their trip north, but two wrestlers particularly dominated the field. Eagle freshman Adam LoPiccolo won the individual title at 285 pounds. LoPiccolo won his first three matches before disposing of Nassau's John Adriac, 9-0, in the finals.
AU's breakout junior Tom Kniezewski won five straight matches in the highly competitive 149-pound weight class just to get into the finals. After a tiring day in his home state of Pennsylvania, he fell in the finals to Lehigh's Trevor Chinn to finish in second place.
Other wrestlers competing at Wilkes were Dwayne Hash-Barberis, Daniel Lobsenz, Adam Montgomery, Chris Stout, Evan Mertough and Tyler Flatt.
The Eagles hope that all their hard work this winter will pay off as they enter the last two months of the season.
