Redshirt Freshmen Highlight RU Wrestling's Streak
Jan 22 | Wrestling
By Alex Restrepo
The Rutgers wrestling team has established an eight-match unbeaten streak and redshirt freshmen Joseph Langel (Howell, N.J.) and Daniel Rinaldi (Lodi, N.J.) have highlighted the streak for the Scarlet Knights.
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RINALDI
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Rinaldi has earned a 20-5 record and is on a 14-match win streak. Langel boasts a 19-5 record and has claimed his last 10 matches. Each second-year sensation has picked up six major decisions, which ranks sixth in the EIWA conference.
Both grapplers agree that redshirting their first year at RU paid dividends for their transition from high school to college wrestling.
“Last year really helped me in getting used to the timing,” said Langel. “High school matches run six minutes and in college it extends to seven minutes. That may not sound like a lot but in wrestling it is like running another one-minute sprint.”
Rinaldi said he didn’t go into his first year on campus expecting to redshirt, but felt it ended up being a “blessing in disguise.”
“I caught mono the day of our Wrestle Offs last year,” said Rinaldi. “So that really threw everything off and that is what led to me being redshirted. It worked out because it definitely helped me and I feel I really matured. I think another year under my belt really helped my comfort level in college wrestling.”
Langel and Rinaldi’s emergence has highlighted Rutgers’ eight-match unbeaten streak to open the spring season as the squad has gone 7-0-1 in 2010. Both wrestlers credit the team’s tough fall schedule to igniting their streaks. The Scarlet Knights competed on the road for the entire fall semester and faced some of the nation’s elite including No. 1 Iowa, No. 19 Penn State and No. 24 Pittsburgh.
Langel said being on the road strengthened the team’s chemistry and made being on the squad feel more like a brotherhood.
“Traveling in the fall really brought us together,” said Langel. “Staying at hotels puts us around each other a lot and we get to know one another. When one of our teammates is wrestling, we feel like we are in the match with them because we were there practicing with them, working out and training throughout the year so we want to see that hard work pay off.”
Langel says the team understands it is in the home stretch right now and that the team can’t afford any miscues heading into postseason competition.
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LANGEL
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“The end is in sight and we want to keep this run going,” said Langel. “You want to keep winning so you can keep going for those titles at the end of the season. This team is really hitting its stride and we have been on the brink of making the national rankings for a while and we feel like we are so close to getting in the top 25.”
Langel and Rinaldi’s individual streaks have paid off, as they were each listed in the first of three coaches’ panel rankings released by the NCAA for the 2009-10 wrestling season. The final rankings will be one of the tools used as part of the selection process to determine the qualifiers for the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. Langel is listed at No. 26 in the 125-pound class and 174-pound Rinaldi appeared at No. 28.
Rinaldi says his hot streak is due to him utilizing one of his strong points – his top technique.
“My top technique has really improved and I have done well riding my opponents,” said Rinaldi. “That has always been one of my strengths but I got away from that early in the year because I was letting people up, which is not a smart move when your best position is on top.”
What has made their streaks more enjoyable is knowing that they are representing their state’s school. Langel says competing as a Scarlet Knight makes him want to compete harder because of what Rutgers represents.
“Having your family and friends see how well you are doing and having everyone that you met wrestling through high school come out to watch you makes it more entertaining,” commented Langel. “Knowing you are representing your state’s school makes it more of a pride thing.”
