NU wrestling team struggles during season; individual wrestlers excel

By Matthew E. Harlow
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

In the 2001-02 NCAA Division III Rankings, the Norwich Cadets stand a respectable 15th out of 20 for wrestling.

"I feel that we stand strong as a team and independently; that's the thing about wrestling, you have to succeed individually to be successful as a team," said Pat Casalinova, 21, a junior business management major from Framingham, Mass.

Norwich has had 15 matches so far this season, with nine more to go. Two of their wrestlers stand out: Jon Capen won all four of his matches, collecting pins in matches against Rhode Island College, WPI and Trinity College in the 174 pound weight class at the New England College Conference Wrestling Association Dual-Meet Championships. He now leads the Cadets in pins.

"I'm happy with how I've been able to have pins in these matches, and I just hope I can keep it up; we still have a long season to go, and the schedule doesn't get any easier," said Jon Capen, 19, a communications major from Peru, N.Y.

Another Cadet wrestler, Silver Oghayore, went on to win three of his four matches the weekend of January 19 at Wesleyan College.

"It's great; that's what I like about wrestling: it's a challenge, and the good thing is you can only get better if you stick with it," said Silver Oghayore, a freshman communications major from Bridgeport, Conn.

Norwich has competed in two tournaments so far this season, finishing 12th out of 15 at the Ithaca Invitational and 10th out of 18 at the Springfield Invitational in Springfield, Mass, on November, 17, 2001.

"I'm very happy with what the guys have been doing out there; they work very hard in the matches and at practice. We just have to continue to work hard or even work harder, because we have some tough matches coming up," said Head Coach Rich Hasenfus.

Back to Guidon index