With winter sports starting at Roanoke, it’s time for new sports coverage. Wrestling took to the mat Saturday November 16th for the first conference match this season. The Maroons were picked as the best overall team in conference play after their victory at ODACs last season, so there were definitely high expectations for their first match of the season at Washington and Lee. Including their success in the preseason polls for this conference the Maroons were also selected as a top ten national competitor for both duals and tournaments. Six individual wrestlers are also top 15 within their weight class including Mark Samuel in the 141-weight class.
At the Cougar Classic, hosted by Averett University, the Maroons kept up the good reputation with 5 champions in their respective weight class. In one of his first collegiate appearances, freshman Jonah Paulino was named one of two ODAC wrestlers of the week, along with fellow Maroon Cam Cavins. Both wrestlers went undefeated on the day, a huge statement for Roanoke College wrestling. Meanwhile on November 16th against the Generals of Washington and Lee, the Maroons won 8 of 10 divisions, ultimately winning the match 33-7. 2 wrestlers won by Major Decision, which means those two wrestlers won their individual matches by 8 points or more. Jonah Paulino also won his match impressively, with a different sort of Major Decision, which was a technical fall. Jonah was leading his opponent by 15 points, so the match automatically stopped leading to another arm raise of victory for the Maroons. Hopefully there will be many more arms raising in the Maroons favor this season including next weekend, Saturday, November 23, versus Castleton and Stevens.
Lauren Price
Staff Reporter
