Rutgers Wrestling 2007-08 Season Review
May 12 | Wrestling
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Under the guidance of first-year head coach Scott Goodale, the Rutgers wrestling team vastly improved throughout the 2007-08 season. After struggling early in the fall, the Scarlet Knights won seven of their last nine matches of the season and were able to send two wrestlers to the NCAA Championships.
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GOODALE |
The Scarlet Knights dropped their first three head-to-head meets of the season, falling at No. 15 Ohio State, Lehigh and No. 23 Maryland, but then began to heat up. After their loss to the Terps, RU had a good showing at the Wilkes Open as junior Matt Pletcher (Eastampton, N.J.) won the 165-weight class. Rutgers went on to win four of its next five meets.
The team gave Coach Goodale his first collegiate dual victory when it opened its home schedule and the New Year with a 42-0 win over Wagner. In the contest, all 10 RU wrestlers were victorious, including senior Dan Hilt (Manalapan, N.J.), who pinned his opponent in 1:20.
After falling to Lock Haven at the College Ave. Gym, the Scarlet Knights traveled to Princeton and beat their local rival 33-12. RU lost the first bout of the contest, but reeled off five straight wins to take a commanding 23-6 lead, and then held on for the victory.
RU returned home to beat East Stroudsburg 24-12, and then split at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy tri-meet. Rutgers won the first contest against USMMA, 21-12, as six Scarlet Knights were victorious. RU then dropped a hard fought 27-10 decision to Army in its second contest of the day.
But this is when Goodale's team really found its stride, as they reeled off five consecutive wins. First up was a home tri-meet with Brown and Franklin & Marshall. The Scarlet Knights beat Brown 26-9, before handing F & M a decisive 31-10 loss. Pletcher took a big step in his development, earning two major decision victories on the day and establishing the beginning of what would become a seven-bout winning streak.
Rutgers then took care of business on the road and swept a pair of matches in Boston. RU defeated Boston 22-19, as Pletcher, Chris Norrell (Phillipsburg, Pa.), Mike Whalen (Lake Hiawatha, N.J.) and Keith Dobish (Lodi, N.J.) won four consecutive matches to jump-start the team. The Scarlet Knights then beat Delaware State, 42-9.
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ADAMCSIK |
The Scarlet Knights finished up the regular season losing to Navy at home, before beating Drexel to head into the EIWA Championships on a high note.
Although the team finished in 11th place at the event, two wrestlers earned their way into the NCAA Wrestling Championships. Lamar Brown (Red Bank, N.J.) earned a spot in the finals of the 197-pound bracket with a 3-1 overtime win over Justin Kerber of Cornell. He then fell in the finals, 10-1 to American's Joshua Glenn, but he secured a spot in the National Tournament with his second place finish, marking the highest place for a Rutgers wrestler since 2004.
Adamcsik was named as one of the three wildcards, marking the second time in his career he reached the NCAA Wrestling Championship.
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BROWN |
Brown made it through the first day of action after defeating Jacob Bryce of North Dakota State, 11-5. The junior then fell to Oregon State's Kyle Bessler, 4-2, finishing off his breakout year.
The Scarlet Knights saw a number of wrestlers have successful seasons. Brown finished off the year at 22-14, Adamcsik was 27-8 in his final year "On the Banks," Pletcher finished his stellar season at 26-8 and sophomore Jack Barrett (Metuchen, N.J.) went 19-13.
The future looks bright for the Scarlet Knights as Goodale and his coaching staff are bringing in a top-flight recruiting class. The class is ranked No. 10 in the nation by WIN Magazine and includes standout Scott Winston (Jackson, N.J.).The 160-pounder was 137-0 in his high school wrestling career with three State Championships.
