MSOE Wrestling Preview 2012-2013
| Published: 11/30/2012 |
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The MSOE wrestling team has high expectations for this season as they are coming off their first conference title since 2005. Last year’s conference title was the sixth title that the Raiders have claimed during the twenty years that there has been a conference championship tournament.
Senior co-captains Austin Binish (Sturgeon Bay, Wis./Sturgeon Bay High School ) and Matt Ostovich (Greenfield, Wis./Greenfield) will be called upon to lead the 2012-13 wrestling team. Binish will compete at the 133 pound (#) weight class and hopes to build upon his strong performance of last year when he finished fourth in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Tournament, just missing qualifying for the national tournament. Binish also was runner-up in the conference tournament after losing a heart breaking overtime match in the finals. His 26 career falls puts him fifth on the all-time list of MSOE wrestlers.
Ostovich also enters the season with high expectations coming off a 24-match win season, giving him a career total of 60 victories, 16th on the all-time MSOE career victory list. A late season injury ended Ostovich’s hope of competing in the post season tournaments. This year, he is healthy and has his sights set once again on a possible top eight finish and an NCAA All-American honor.
Binish and Ostovich both were named to last year’s National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar Academic All-American team which requires excellence both on the mat and in the classroom. MSOE has a total of 26 wrestlers who have earned Academic All-American status from the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
The junior class will be represented by three possible starters: Kyle Perea (Los Lunas, N.M./Los Lunas) looks to be tabbed as starter at 174#; Marcus Rokosh (Wheaton, Ill./Glenbard South) will likely handle that role at either 197# or 285#; Dallas Schurg (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) will be the most likely starter at 149#. Rokosh and Schurg are the defending conference champions at the 197 and 157 weight classes.
The sophomore class features returning letter winners Luke Gaeth (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville), Nick Miceli (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Vandermeulen) and Justin Wolfenden (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East). Gaeth won the third highest number of wins on the team last year when he recorded 25 victories including wins over several accomplished wrestlers including national qualifiers. A late season injury slowed him down last year, ending his season before the NCAA regional tournament. Miceli and Wolfenden both return after a very strong freshmen campaign and are predicted to have very successful years.
Several freshmen join the team with impressive credentials and plan to continue their dominance at the collegiate level. Dylan Allison (Illinois City, Ill./Rockridge), Russell Carey (Almond, Wis./Almond-Bancroft), Jimmy Kuczynski (Algonquin, Ill./Dundee Crown) and Joey Larson (Genoa City, Wis./Badger) will all provide depth to the squad and compete for starting positions.
MSOE wrestles in the Northern Wrestling Association and will have competition from Lakeland and Concordia-Wisconsin for the conference title in 2013. MSOE traditionally hosts an eleven-team tournament in December with another home highlight being home duals on Jan. 5 against University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh and NCAA powerhouse, Wheaton College. With a strong nucleus of returning wrestlers coupled with the list of accomplished freshmen, the Raiders hope to continue to be a force to be reckoned with.
