By Danny Brady
The Springfield College wrestling team took home its 16th City of Springfield Championship title and 10th in a row on Saturday, Nov. 9.
“Being the best in the city of Springfield is something that means a lot to us and we work hard for it,” junior Ben Katz said. “These other teams want to take it away from us, but winning it again shows that we’re always going to come out and put forth our best effort.”
The championship uses a round-robin format, with each of the four participating teams getting the opportunity to compete against each other. In the first two matches, Springfield cruised past American International College, 38-14, and throttled Springfield Technical Community College, 47-9. The wins set up a championship-deciding match against rival Western New England, which also entered 2-0.
“Western New England and us have been very close,” junior Myles Leonard said. “We knew that they were going to come at us with all they had, and we needed to match that to show them that we were the better team.”
Early in the competition, Leonard faced a challenge at 184 pounds as Western New England bumped their better 174 up to face him instead of teammate Jake Deguire. Despite the test, Leonard made quick work of his opponent.
“About a minute in, I got into a front headlock position and kept pressure on him,” Leonard said. “Eventually he started to lose energy and give up so I locked up a cradle and was able to pin him right when I felt him start to belly out.”
Leonard and Deguire both pinned their opponents, which helped Springfield jump out early over Western New England. Leonard credited Katz for continuing the early momentum and extending their lead to 18-3.
“[Ben] had a big match. He was in a close battle and he was able to come out with a pin. Our team was animated and excited and that helped us keep rolling.”
Katz faced a familiar foe in his match. He had previously wrestled his opponent three times and won each meeting. Despite his past success, he knew it would be a close affair because his opponent knew Katz’s wrestling style from previous matchups.
“[His opponent] is a tough kid and he knows what he’s doing… I tried to give him a different look that I haven’t given him before and it ended up working. I got a underhook, threw him over me, threw him straight to his back, and I was just able to keep my foot inbounds to get the pin on the outside”
Although the Golden Bears won the final four matches, it wasn’t enough to defeat the Pride as Springfield was able to hold on late and win by a score of 26-20 to retain the championship.
“We’re Springfield College, so it’s our responsibility to hold the name and win it every year. We know that we have a target on our back everytime we go into this tournament and everybody stepped up and did their job,” Leonard said.
Despite pinning all three of his opponents on the day, Katz humbly credited the team’s strong culture for their early season success.
“We’ve really bonded as a team more this year than any other year I’ve been here. We’re always around each other whether it’s out of practice or in practice and every guy on the sideline is invested during every match.”
Leonard praised the coaches, a staff made up of head coach Jason Holder, and graduate assistants Ryan Peters, Joey Parsons and Jared Swartz – all former Springfield wrestlers – for building this culture.
“It’s a tough sport that is very physically and mentally punishing but we’re all able to go out there and have fun with each other every day. Our coaches have helped us develop that mentality”
The Pride have their first dual match this Friday, Nov. 15 at home against New England College, Leonard added that consistency is a major goal for this year’s team.
“We have a lot of great guys in the room. Everyone brings something different to the table. We want to be constantly near the top in every tournament that we’re at and we have a team that is capable of doing that.”
Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics