Wrestling faces new-look CAA, tough schedule in effort to recapture crown

Schedule includes spring match-up with National Champion Minnesota

BRENNA BAILEY / staff photographer Freshman Brian Hanifan (left) and sophomore Jeremy Rankin spar in practice on Tuesday. The Dukes were preparing for tonight's home opener against the Dragons of Drexel University. JMU failed to win its third-consecutive CAA championship last year, coming in second and the task will not be easier this year in the revamped conference.

Since their first two matches, JMU's wrestling team has been conditioning, practicing and focusing so that its upcoming season in a new-look conference is a challenge that it can meet.

"The guys on the team this year really like to work hard and enjoy challenges," junior captain Jonathan Huesdash said. "We've been putting in a lot of effort, and hopefully we'll be ready to step up to those challenges."

In 2000-'01 the Dukes failed to secure their third consecutive Colonial Athletic Association championship, finishing second in the conference.

The team has participated in the Navy Open and the Penn State Open so far this season. The team is in good shape, but it is not where it wants to be and hopefully with some practice it will eventually be there, according to junior Josh Fultz.

"Navy and Penn State were our first tournaments this year; we're just getting warmed up," Huesdash said. "We're up against really good competition; we have to show them that we're ready."

This season has JMU up against great competition and a some key injuries. Generally, injuries are unavoidable and the Dukes are struggling to cope. "I'm on injured reserve right now because I tore my ACL at our first match," Fultz said. "My surgery is scheduled over Winter Break, and even though that means I should be out for the season, I'm going to see if I can get back in."

The team practices so that it can wrestle tougher and continue to improve.
The Navy and Penn State matches have given the team an overview of the skills they need to work on to be able to do well, freshman Aaron Swift said.
"The team has to work on doing better in conditioning," Swift said. "We need to practice having better foot positioning and movement so that we don't get taken down."

The team conditions both physically and mentally to be prepared for their competition. They are well-rounded when it comes to the amount of time they practice, but they need to get the right mind-set down, according to freshman Dan Adams.

"We need to work on staying mentally tough for the whole season," Huesdash said. "Being focused for the whole season is the biggest thing for our team."
The team has the toughest schedule for the upcoming season that it has ever had, he said. The team is in a new conference where it has to wrestle against the top competition. On Saturday it will go up against the Minnesota Gophers, the defending national champions.

With the transition from high school, freshmen wrestlers also have experienced a new level of competition. With the schedule that it has, the wrestlers are normally very busy, but they are always trying to keep working hard and stay healthy, according to Fultz.

"It's a whole new experience for me here at JMU," Swift said. "The level is way above what it was in high school, and the competition is definitely a challenge, but I think we're ready."