Grapplers still seek elusive first win

Wrestling

Senior wrestler Todd Schroeder won a pair of matches, but the Dukes could not notch their first victory of the season in the Virginia Duals, a two-day event held Jan. 9 and 10 at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton.

JMU lost 27-9 to State University of New York-Brockport and 33-21 to Montclair State University, dropping the Dukes' record to 0-6 on the season.

"It didn't go quite as I had planned, but we wrestled tough," coach Chris Elliott said.

In his first match of the tournament, Schroeder defeated Brockport's Tony D'Ambra, 8-7, in the 133-pound category. Against Montclair's Lorraine Infante, Schroeder earned a first-period fall. The wins were his first of the season, making him 2-6 overall.

Elliott said Schroeder was injured in his match against Brockport, but he "sucked it up" and got the win.

During the Virginia Duals, senior Steve Broglie and sophomore Brian Lambert also won matches against Brockport. Broglie got his second win of the season with a 3-2 decision in his 174-pound bout. Meanwhile, Lambert notched a 10-6 decision in the 165-pound category.

Despite the team's record, Elliott said the team has made a lot of progress. He recalled the Dec. 14 Northeast Duals in Albany, N.Y. The Dukes lost all three matches and appeared tired from studying for final exams the week before. Since then, the team has been much improved, he said.

"If you look at the way we are wrestling now as opposed to that weekend, we are definitely heads above water from where we were," Elliott said.

He said it is hard to make his team believe that since the Dukes still are winless.

The Dukes' next challenge is the Virginia Intercollegiate State Championships, which is hosted by Old Dominion University, Saturday in Norfolk.

"[Virginia Military Institute], I would think, is probably the front-runner again this year," Elliott said. "If our guys wrestle well, keep the intensity up and remember what we are doing in practice this week so we don't make some of the same mistakes we have been making, we should finish in the middle."