PSU Sports Wrap Up
Simon Pierpont
Assistant Sports Editor
As the fall sports have come to a close Plymouth State’s beloved winter sports are underway. Along with basketball and hockey getting underway again, skiing, wrestling, and swimming are also beginning their seasons. The ski team has had a lot of visits to the weight room but has not competed yet as a result of Plymouth not having any snow and the resorts not being open for the season for at least another week.
Wrestling, on the other hand, is in full swing as the Panthers traveled to the Mario Vagge Gymnasium in the first Granite State Challenge Cup between Daniel Webster College and Plymouth State University. This is a cup that was established this year for the two NCAA recognized wrestling programs in the state of New Hampshire, Plymouth State and Daniel Webster College. With a 28-17 victory Saturday the Panthers claimed the first edition of the cup. Plymouth State had 5 of their 6 victories come from freshman as PSU earned an 11-0 lead winning the first two matches behind freshmen Joey Aumann (Hopatcong, N.J.) and Bryan Williams (Taunton, Mass.) who posted victories at the 125 and 133 weight class. The Panthers then lost the lead as DWC won the next four matches giving them a 17-11 lead over Plymouth. In the end however, Plymouth State rallied to win the last four matches with wins from senior Chris Perreault (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) at 197, freshmen Matt Froio (Cohasset, Mass) at 174, Bruce McLee (Washingtonville, N.Y.) at 184, and Travis Hughes (Milford, N.H.) at 285. Both programs look to meet again this Saturday at the Doug Parker Invitational at Springfield College.
The women of Plymouth State’s swimming and diving team won a three team meet at Colby-Sawyer College Saturday afternoon, as they defeated Colby-Sawyer College 129-113, and Elms College 175-73, in the first scoring meet of the season. Plymouth won seven of the fifteen events on Saturday but was still able to post the top score. With performances from freshmen Julia Mazza (Belchertown, Mass) and Julia West (Wiscasset, Maine), the Panthers were able to capture four individual events. Mazza took first place in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:03.48 and a time of 28.74 seconds in the 50 fly, while West won the 50-yard breaststroke in just 35 seconds and posted a top time of 2:47.73 in the 200-yard breaststroke. With individual wins coming from Junior Katia Wyman (Portsmouth, N.H.) and freshman Erin Burgos (Plaistow, N.H.), PSU was able to capture two more of their seven victories. Wyman won the 1,000-yard freestyle in 12:23.33 and Burgos won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:31.79. The Panthers seventh victory came from a relay team of four women in the 200-yard medley relay, with Burgos, West, Mazza and freshman Deanne DeGrazia (Westport, Mass) who finished the race in a time of 2:01.51.
The Panthers will travel to Springfield, Mass, next Saturday for another tri-meet at Western New England University with Eastern Connecticut State University.