West Virginia Wrestling

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Notes from Coach Doyle...

November 18, 2013

I always enjoy Sundays and reflecting on our guys successes and areas of improvement. This group of young men have a work ethic and desire to be great like no other I've been around. Those following the program closely are seeing this on a weekly basis, and it's going to be a lot of fun watching these guys grow into mature successful adults while at Wheeling Jesuit. This week was big on a lot of levels. From a team standpoint, we're getting guys healed up and back on the mat. The energy in the practice room is fantastic and I continue to be motivated by the tenacity with which these guys compete, at such a young age. From a recruiting standpoint, we added some great depth to our program and individuals that build great credibility in key recruiting areas. They will help us reach our goals of becoming a top program!

We competed at the Mount Union Invitational yesterday and the guys wrestled very well. It was our first opportunity to see some of the top 20 programs in Division II and see a few regional foes. Once again, we competed without Skyler Terrell our 141lbs starter and captain. He's recovering and will hopefully be back in the line up Saturday against Mercyhurst and Ohio Valley.

Weekend Recap:

125

Brad Kakos (2-2, 5-7, 5th Mount Union Inv.) Brad continues to get better in every position and it's a direct reflection of the work he puts in. Having a 125lbs that can set the pace and attitude for the rest of the team is important and Brad's tenacity is a great asset for us to have in our lightweight. I know Brad isn't satisfied with yesterdays results and lost a match he had a great chance to win. Brad will continue to get better and be someone our fans enjoy to watch compete.

133

Scott Lopez (4-2, 12-4, 3rd BW Open, 2nd W&J Inv, 5th Mount Union Inv) Scott had another successful weekend and continues to improve . There are some key positions that Scott needs to get better at before he beats the top guys but I'm confident that will happen. Scott wrestled the #1 seed in the 2nd round and battled very hard with him, breaking him mentally in the 3rd. Scott scored the last 5 points of the match. This is something our guys do regularly regardless of whether they're winning or losing. We out wrestle our opponents in the 3rd period.

Damon Outward (4-2, 13-5, 5th BW Open, 5th W&J Inv, 4th Mount Union Inv) Damon also had a strong weekend and our two 133lbs continue to do great things. 25 wins between the two of them would suggest 133lbs is our strongest weight class. I'm sure our heavyweights would argue but it's a great situation to have. Damon is getting very tough and the more he believes in himself the more he's going to accomplish. When he looks to score consistently, not to many opponents can stop him. As a coach, I always enjoy when our 133lbs are coming up. The only problem is that I have to run between two mats to enjoy both Damon and Scott's wrestling. 141


Austin Short (1-2, 2-7) Austin is filling in for Skyler right now and he's making big time gains every week. A month ago I was questioning whether Austin would be able to handle the grind of college wrestling and now I'm wondering how great Austin can become. He loves the sport and works extremely hard to get better every day. Even after Austin lost his 2nd match yesterday, Coach Ramsey came running over to coach another match commenting "Austin Short is going to be really good!" Austin is a pleasure to coach and will continue to see gains throughout the year.

149

John Gershom (5-2, 8-6, 7th Mount Union Inv) John experienced a lot of success this weekend winning 5 matches and improving his record to 8-6. John is starting to show everyone some of the skills he has and as long as he continues to open it up, he'll keep experiencing these successes. John knows that he'll need to improve his bottom wrestling to beat the top guys but like most of our guys, he has no problem putting in extra time to get better.

157

Dominick Nania (1-2, 9-6, 5th BW Open) Dom went 1-2 on the weekend and I'm sure isn't to happy about it. He had a good solid win to start the tournament before losing to two strong opponents. Dom is another one that is beginning to believe in his offense, and it will be necessary if Dom wants to make a run in the post season. Dom has the ability to score big points but takes to many rests during the match right now. We have high expectations of him but he needs to be consistent for 7 minutes.

Cody Eggers (0-2, 0-7) Cody continues to work hard and will win soon. The greatest successes we experience in life are when we have to work through adversity and tough times. These times will make Cody a much better wrestler and more importantly a better individual when he turns it around. It is a learning experience.

165

Anthony 'TJ' Smith (0-2, 2-7) TJ is another individual who is working very hard to work through this transition to college. He battles hard and has maximum effort every time he steps on the mat. TJ's biggest challenge is to identify what will help him be successful, not necessarily those around him. He has to learn his strengths and capitalize on them. Like all of our guys, he also has to identify where he's having troubles as well. There are certain areas that continue to give TJ problems and I do believe he'll fix it.

174

Sawyer Leppla (4-2, 9-5, 5th BW Open, 4th W&J Inv, 4th Mount Union Inv) Sawyer has been quite the competitor these first few weeks. He continues to learn new things and he's trying to find areas for improvement on a regular basis. Sawyer is hard on himself but he needs to learn, to just wrestle through positions and trust himself. He's going to be VERY successful over his career as long as he learns to wrestle in positions he's uncomfortable with. Like a lot of guys, some choose not wrestle in areas where they're not good, but in return they don't improve.

Kale Rayner (1-2, 1-3)
It was good to have one of our captains back on the mat. Kale is recovered from an early season injury and it's just taking a little time for Kale to get his timing and conditioning back. He looked good this weekend and will look better going forward. Kale has to work on a lot of areas including his diet and he'll feel better during his training. He is very focused on getting better every day and part of that is nutrition. Look to see Kale build some momentum through the rest of this semester.

184

Ryan Winslow (3-2, 3-2, 4th Mount Union Inv) It was exciting to Ryan on the mat for the first time this season and first time since last December for his family. Ryan has dealt with various injuries over the past year but you wouldn't have known it yesterday. I was most encouraged by Ryan's tenacity and hard wrestling for the entire match. It seems to be contagious in our room, but our guys love to push the pace and wrestle harder as the match progresses. Ryan won some tough matches and also looks to be a pinner, something we emphasize!

Nate Hupp (3-3, 7-8, 4th BW Open, 6th Mount Union Inv) Nate is one of our guys that does have previous collegiate experience and understands the significance of wrestling for an entire match. Nate takes to many breaks to be consistent right now and it costs him a lot of points during a match. Nate shows great signs but his setbacks come in his inability to wrestle hard for seven minutes. Once again, Nate has been off the mat for quite some time but with 15 matches under his belt, I trust you'll see improvements.

197

Maxwell Lacey (5-2, 10-7, 6th W&J Inv, 7th Mount Union Inv) Max wrestled the most matches on the weekend, something that Mas needs at this point of the year. Max is another wrestler that needs to have trust in himself and his abilities. Max is very talented but his lack of confidence makes it hard for people to see this at times. If you look at his last two weeks, Max gets on a roll and wins in big streaks. He has to take the same confidence into his early matches.

Jake Haynes (0-2, 0-7) Jake will continue to work through these tough times. He doesn't make excuses and just keeps working hard. Jake keeps seeing small glimpses of success and they'll become more and more as he works through his weaknesses.

285

Corey Siegfried (4-2, 11-5, 3rd W&J Inv, 4th Mount Union Inv) Corey is a fierce competitor and gets better and better every week. Yesterday was no different and Corey continues to find out how good he can be when he opens up. There were times yesterday that Corey's offense looked unstoppable, but he has to know how to get to these positions since he's so undersized. Corey and Logan continue to make great strides and push each other every day. It's fun to watch.

Logan Bowman (4-2, 11-5, 4th BW Open, 5th Mount Union Inv) Logan wrestled a great tournament losing to the champion in 3 overtimes and the 3rd place finisher. Logan is positive and knows this is a process. He keeps working on the little things and the one that will help him most is the ability to score from the neutral position. He's strong in a lot of areas but to separate yourself at this level, you have to score offensive points from the neutral position.

Unattached Wrestlers

We were able to take our individuals that are redshirting this year. For those not aware, our redshirts have to provide their own transportation and costs when they compete and cannot represent WJU. You may not have known these guys were competing Saturday.
Jonathan Barrett (1-2, 1-4)
Jared Leasure (4-2, 5-4, 5th BW Open, 5th Mount Union Inv)
Casey Hogg (2-3, 2-3, 6th Mount Union Inv)

Please put Saturday on your calendars. We wrestle Mercyhurst, that is ranked 20th in the country and that I believe is a lot better than that. We also wrestle Ohio Valley University. The match will begin at 11am on Saturday and I believe the matches will be wrestled in the old gym. If you get a chance come out and support the team! Please remember we post a lot of information on our Twitter page @wjuwrestling and our Facebook page at Wheeling Jesuit Wrestling.

Have a great week,
Coach Doyle


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