Cvitan, Dukes ready to grapple with Monarchs

The 2003-'04 season has been a troubling one for the Dukes as they struggle with inexperience and a lack of funding. Yet, the team continues to compete against nationally ranked opponents with the hopes of working for the future of its program.

The team holds its last home match today in Sinclair Gym against conference opponent Old Dominion University. The Dukes are 10th in the Colonial Athletic Association with an overall record of 2-15 and 1-8 in the conference. ODU, which ranks seventh in the conference with a record of 4-12, was defeated this weekend by both the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and the University of Maryland.

"We really don't change what we do based off of what team we are going against," senior co-captain Steve Broglie said. "We don't focus on them; we just go by our last match and correct any mistakes, so that we can be more prepared for the next match."

The team will, however, have to watch ODU's Adam Wright, who weighs in at 184 pounds. Wright was named CAA Co-Wrestler of the Week Feb. 10 and currently is ranked third in the conference with a record of 5-1 in duals. He was the sole victor for his team in the last meet against Maryland and UNC-G.

However, the Dukes have found strength in their heavyweight class. Red-shirt sophomore Chris Cvitan consistently has recorded pins in his previous matches, and is showing great improvement.

"I have about two to three more matches against ranked opponents, but I have confidence to do well against them," Cvitan said. "I hope to win the next couple of matches."

Assistant coach Chris Pirch said, "If they compete to their potential, the guys could really surprise some teams and have some great upsets within the conference."

Only two seniors are on scholarship, and this marks the last year in which any wrestling athlete holds a scholarship. The funding for the program was cut after the 2000 season in which the team had won conferences that year, as well as in 1999.

ODU will be the last conference opponent to face before the team will take on the University of Virginia, Cornell University and The Citadel at UVa. Sat., Feb. 21. Both Cornell and Citadel are ranked nationally.

"This will be our biggest challenge by far. These three teams are all very good and will make for quite the matches," Broglie said.