February 9, 2015
Evan Kueffner, Washington and Lee
Freshman, 197
Grass Lake, Mich.
Kueffner posted a 2-0 overall record at 197 pounds as Washington and Lee took on NYU and Stevens over the weekend in Lexington. For Kueffner, the wins are part of a current six-match winning streak as he improved to 8-5 overall and 6-2 in conference matches. Both of his wins were by fall, defeating NYU's William Gockel-Figge in 1:42 and Stevens' Ryan Jachim in 2:21. Each of his last four wins have been by fall.
PREVIOUS AWARD WINNERS
February 2, 2015
Mike Polizzi, Stevens
Senior, 157
Senior Mike Polizzi continued his exceptional season, leading the Stevens wrestling team to a 4-0 conference weekend, earning his 100th career win and improving to 22-2 on the season including wins in his last 15 bouts. Polizzi went 2-0 Saturday, earning a 4-0 shutout against Hopkins and a dominating technical fall victory over Gettysburg. On Sunday, Polizzi tallied a technical fall for win No. 99 against Muhlenberg before a 5-2 decision gave him 100 for his career. In his 100th win, Polizzi knocked off Ursinus College's 157-pound senior Richard Jasinski who was an All-American in 2014 and came into the weekend ranked fourth nationally. Polizzi was No. 8 and is now 22-2 this year after becoming just the fourth wrestler in Stevens history to reach 100 victories.
January 26, 2015
Ricky Fisher, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
Junior, 197
Nashville, Tenn.
Fisher extended his winning streak to 13 straight bouts with a perfect 3-0 week. He pinned the #14 wrestler in the nation at the 197 weight class, senior Nathaniel Leer of nationally-ranked TCNJ, in the Mariners' road loss on Tuesday night. That pin brought USMMA to within three points of the Lions heading into the heavyweight position. Fisher went on to lead USMMA to weekend victories over Gettysburg and Johns Hopkins on Saturday by picking up win by decision over Bullets' freshman Anthony Puca and registering the match-clinching win against JHU's sophomore Kory Johnson via a technical fall.
January 19, 2015
January 12, 2015
Patrick Sheehan, New York University
Senior, 184
Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School
Sheehan was the only NYU grappler to produce a perfect 3-0 record on Friday at the NWCA Cliff Keen National Duals. He began with a 6-2 decision of Rodney Harvey (honorable mention in D3wrestle.com rankings) of #23 Olivet, followed by a 9-0 major decision over Awais Arain of #20/24 Loras. Sheehan closed out the day with an 8-1 decision over 2012-13 All-American Daniel Olsen (#9 D3wrestle.com) of #21 Wheaton (IL).
January 5, 2015
Derek Arnold, Ursinus
Sophomore, 149
Centrevilla, Va./Westfield
Sophomore Derek Arnold (Centrevilla, Va./Westfield) won the Wilkes Open at the 149 pound bracket, beating four Division I wrestlers...Arnold, the lone Ursinus wrestler in the tournament, won his bracket at 149 pounds. He started the day by beating Michael Underwood of Rutgers by a 7-2 decision, then beat fellow Centennial wrestler Darryl Albonico of New York University 3-2. In the quarters, he defeated Baby Bannister of Maryland by an 8-6 decision before knocking off Jimmy Morris of Rider 4-2. In the finals, he defeated Danny Reed of Columbia by a 4-2 decision, defeating his fourth Division I wrestler of the day.
December 8, 2014
AJ Kowal, Stevens Institute of Technology
Freshman, 184 lbs
Cincinnati, Ohio
AJ Kowal won the 184-pound weight class at the Messiah Petrofes Invitational this weekend. The title is the second for the Stevens rookie who is also ranked seventh in the nation at 184 lbs. Kowal took a bye into the second round, before reaching the quarters on the back of a 20-1 technical fall over Paul Rallis of Baldwin Wallace. Kowal earned a win by fall (2:52) in his quarterfinal bout against James McNally of Wilkes, and did the same in the first period (2:05) of his semifinal match-up against Brent Kirk of Mount Union. In the final, Kowal went on to beat teammate Phil Woods for the tournament title by decision, 5-3. Kowal finished 4-0 on the weekend.
December 8, 2014
Ryan O'Boyle, McDaniel
Junior, 133 lbs
North Reading, Mass.
O'Boyle led the Green Terror at the Petrofes Invitational hosted by Messiah over the weekend, winning the 133-pound weight class. The junior went 5-0 with a pair of pins.
November 23, 2014
Quinn Merrigan, Gettysburg College
FR, 149
Canton, Mass.
Freshman Quinn Merrigan scored three victories in helping
Gettysburg remain unbeaten on the season in dual competition.
Merrigan posted pins against West Virginia Tech and Scranton at 149
pounds, before closing his day with an 8-4 decision against Penn
State Mont Alto. Merrigan had pinned five-straight foes before his
final decision and he improved to 8-2 overall this season.
November 17, 2014
John Messinger, New York University
Soph, 165
Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley
Messinger won all four of his bouts, all by pin, as NYU defeated all four of its opponents at the Metro vs. PA Duals at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, PA, on Saturday. He pinned his Scranton opponent in 4:57, his Wilkes opponent in 4:48, his King's opponent in 5:28, and his Elizabethtown opponent (time n/a). Messinger's performance helped NYU defeat all four of its opponents.
November 11, 2014
Steven Nogradi, New York University
Freshman, 133
Pembroke Pines, Fla./Everglades
Nogradi led the Violets at the Ithaca College Invite on Friday and Saturday. The freshman won all five of his matches en route to the 133-pound title, amassing three pins and two decisions.
November 2, 2014
Ryan O'Boyle, McDaniel
Junior, 133
North Reading, Mass./Central Catholic
O'Boyle led the Green Terror to a fourth-place finish at Messiah Invitational this past weekend. He went 4-0 with three pins to win 133-pound weight class. Three pins came in 1:43, 0:53, 0:30.