The Oswego State wrestling team is ready to return to the mats and start the 2018-2019 season. The Lakers look to have wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Championships for their third straight season. Oswego State opens its season at the Ithaca College Invitational on Nov. 2 and 3. The Invitational begins at 3:30 p.m. Friday and continues at 10 a.m. Saturday. The Lakers return to Ithaca again on Nov. 18, when they compete at Cornell University for the 50th New York State Collegiate Championships. The Lakers remain on the road when they head to the 53rd Invitational at the Rochester Institute of Technology on Dec. 1.
A week after that, Oswego State will host its first home meet in Max Ziel Gymnasium and will take on the Bombers of Ithaca College at 12 p.m. Oswego State will host a competition at the start of 2019, welcoming King’s College, Lycoming College and RIT to campus for the NY/PA Duals at 1 p.m. on Jan. 5.
The next weekend, the Lakers return the favor when they head to Lycoming College to take part in the Budd Whitehill Div. III Duals from Jan. 11-12. Oswego will then return to New York, competing in Brockport on Jan. 16 and 19. On Wednesday, Jan. 16, the Lakers hit the mat against the Golden Eagles in a dual meet. They will follow up with the 27th ECWC Championships at 10 a.m. on Saturday, again, hosted by the Golden Eagles of the College at Brockport.
The Lakers continue traveling for five of their six remaining contests of the regular season. They finish up January at Castleton University on Jan. 25 and Trinity College on Jan. 26. After grappling at the Baldwin Wallace Invitational on Feb. 2, the Lakers will return for their final home dual meet of the year. The Lakers will host the Red Dragons of SUNY Oneonta, who they have defeated the past two seasons, at 7 p.m. on Feb. 6. After wrapping up the regular season at SUNY Cortland on Feb. 8, Oswego State will compete at the NCAA Mideast Regionals from Feb. 23-24 in hopes of advancing to the NCAA Championships.
The wrestling team has very high expectations for this upcoming season, including head coach Mike Howard.
“We’re so ready to wrestle in the first event,” Howard said. “It’s very important that we are able start off strong and keep that momentum into the rest of the season. We felt that towards the end of the season that we underperformed, and we can’t have that happen again this season.”
Another key element Howard pointed out was consistency.
“If we’re consistent week in and week out, then we’re going to have many of our wrestlers qualify for NCAA Championships,” Howard said. “This is a great group of guys that will work together and get better.”
Howard said the experience is going to go a long way throughout the course of the season because there are many returners to the team that will help the new guys out.
One of those returners is Troy Seymour, who was a part of the team that finished with a 5-6 overall record. Seymour was the only wrestler who competed in the NCAA Championships. He went 1-2 at the NCAA Div. III Wrestling Championships. Seymour entered the championships meet unseeded but was ranked No. 9 in the 174-pound weight class in the NWCA poll. The junior from Peru, New York, picked up a 6-0 shutout between a pair of losses to higher-ranked individuals.
Seymour will be joined by Evan Corso, who competed in Regionals in the 133-pound weight class. Last year, Corso won his first match in the second round with a 6-2 decision. Corso dropped a match by fall to the top-ranked wrestler in Div. III from Stevens Institute of Technology in his next matchup. The 2017 National Championship qualifier rebounded with a win by fall (6:56) in the consolation bracket. This year, he looks to get even better than last season.
“I’m just listening to Coach Howard’s plan and following it,” Corso said. “I’ve been putting a lot of work in the season. I’m doing all that I can, whether it’s the workouts or even dieting. I’m just making sure that I’m doing everything right to succeed, and I got to give coach Howard a lot of credit for keeping my head straight.”
Graphic by Samantha Flavell | The Oswegonian
