Shifting the roster created a spark in Northern Wrestling to take down a team they haven’t in 9 years. Mount Union came strong taking the first three matches, putting the Polar Bears at a 0-12 deficit. It wouldn’t have been done without the hard work put in by Matt Dewitz, SO. and Gavin Layman, FR.
Northern wrestling competed at Olivet the weekend before and got to see Mount Union compete head to head in a dual for the first time this season. “We saw them last weekend, we can handle them. Warm-up went well and I knew my team was ready to go,” said Dewitz after starting in competition the weekend before.
The goal for the team at the beginning of the season was to go 2-0 in OAC duals before going on winter break. The second goal was to stick to fundamentals and be smart wrestlers. Keeping these goals in mind, along with having each other back as a team, pushed the team to excel to a 24-15 victory.
During warm-up, Head Coach Ron Beaschler talked about “how important fundamentals were” and he “knew that they had worked hard in practice that week.”
Dewitz’s addition to the roster started the momentum to drive the team to a monumental win and contribute to achieving the team’s goals. This was unexpected considering this was his second start in an OAC dual.
Layman’s addition to the lineup continued the momentum. His win continued with closing out Mount Union for the rest of the evening. Seeing the win at 149 gave Layman the ability to rely on the rest of his team and he knew he could continue to secure the win.