Springfield wrestling wins the City of Springfield Championship

Evan Wheaton @EvanWheaton It all happened so fast. Before Nick Monteleone knew it, he was lying with his back on the mat. His opponent was on top of him, gearing towards victory. Struggling, he tried to fight back. As desperation began to take over, the Field House exploded with roars and chants from Springfield College’s sideline. With his wrestling teammates cheering him on, the tides turned. Monteleone wriggled free and managed to wrap around his opponent, and before too long, the comeback was completed. “Overall it was a scary experience,” Monteleone said. “I put myself in that situation where I got thrown on my back, but Coach (Jason Holder) everyday in practice went over situations like that. Even though it wasn’t a comfortable position, it was very familiar since we’re practicing it every day.” Winning the round against Springfield Technical Community College during last Saturday’s City of Springfield Championship, Monteleone embraced his coach, team and loved ones after a moment that he’ll remember for the rest of his life. “I thought he did a good job,” Holder said. “He didn’t have great mat awareness at first, but he was able to keep fighting it through that position, and if you win that position you’re going to have success when you keep pushing through. I thought he wrestled well, he’s doing pretty well this year. He’s actually a nice little surprise for us. You can see that he’s been working hard and getting better every day.” Monteleone’s nail-biting 149 matchup was just one victory out of many for the Pride as they went on to dominate STCC 45-6. The match against American International College was highlighted by freshman Chris Trelli in the 125 bout after pinning his opponent in 0:50. In the end, AIC was also blown out by Springfield 45-8 as the Pride swept all three rounds in the tournament. Western New England University proved to be a challenge after tying Springfield before entering the final 285 match-up. The end was all the same as Joe Fusco won the round with a pin in 2:07 to conclude the 24-17 victory over Golden Bears. “I expected to wrestle a heavyweight but I realized they bumped their 197 up, which didn’t really worry me, it just kind of confused me,” Fusco said. “The 197 was a freshman, so I knew I was going to beat him. It kind of threw me off a bit. It definitely didn’t make me nervous but it changed my mind set a little bit.” Even though he remained confident in the mismatch, Fusco, a junior, has the experience to wrestle under pressure. “So we got out there on the mat, and I knew it was tied going in, and I had a hunch it was going to happen. I’ve been in that position so many times, it comes down to heavy weight so much honestly, so I’m just used to it. He was playing opossum, so I finally got a hold of him and took him down.” Fusco’s confidence is carrying on with him heading into this weekend for the annual Doug Parker Invitational. “Taking second as a freshman and a sophomore, this year I’m going to end up on top,” Fusco said. “I should’ve won it last year, I lost to a really good opponent in the finals, so this year it’s mine. I should win, there’s some good opponents there, but it’s mine for the taking. There’s no one there I shouldn’t beat, there’s no one there I won’t beat.” The Pride will take to the mat again Saturday November 17 at 10am when they host the annual Doug Parker Invitational for al all-day event in the Field House. Photo courtesy of Helen Lucas