PEMBROKE — How does a program follow up one of the best seasons in its history?
That’s the question The University of North Carolina at Pembroke wrestling team faces this season after sending eight wrestlers to nationals, with of those finishing second in the nation and overall as a team coming up a few points shy of a regional championship a year ago. With a good mixture of talented newcomers and a large group of national qualifiers back, the Braves aren’t focusing much on last season.
“Obviously we didn’t get what we wanted. The goal is to always finish every event as high as you can and we were 3 1/2 points from winning the regional championship,” UNCP coach Othello “OT” Johnson said. “That’s something we need to let go of. It’s in the past, but we don’t want to forget that we were right there.
“That team last year is a different team and we’re a different team, even though we have a lot of the same pieces. We want to fix some of the things we know we can fix to have a different result, whatever that may be.”
The Braves came up short to Newberry in the NCAA Division II Region 2 tournament hosted at Coker last February and in doing so sent the unprecedented number of wrestlers to the national tournament, with five returning to this year’s team.
None of the five returners however placed at the 2019 NCAA Division II national tournament. Couple that group with newcomers that also come in with chips on their shoulders, and Johnson said he sees resolve in this group.
“I’m not going to say that losing the regional title didn’t hurt, but at the same time it showed them what they are capable of,” Johnson said. “This particular team has a vision. It sounds cliche, but they have 20-20 vision of what they want to do. That’s something that we hope these guys will keep.”
National qualifiers from last year include 125-pounder Nick Daggett, 141-pounder Jonathan Miller, Kaleb Warner at 149 pounds, Tyler Makosy at 157 pounds and Brandon Sloop at 184 pounds. Daggett, Warner and Sloop eached claimed one win at nationals, while the rest suffered two losses and were eliminated.
“They are hungry to get back to the national tournament and get what they know belongs to them,” Johnson said.
Johnson said incoming freshmen like Nigel Freeman, Logan Seliga, Joshua Feliz and Josh Nesbitt come in with illustrious high school careers, but some of them weren’t multiple state champions in high school. Because of that, he said he expects them to bring focus and determination throughout their career.
“There’s a match within the match and for them to have that mat IQ is really gratifying and it shows we did a great job going out there and recruiting those guys to find out niche,” Johnson said.” Most of those guys are not multiple time state champs. Some of them are one-time state champs, but multiple time state placers and they didn’t get what they wanted. And they show that in the room.”
In preparation for the big stage that the wrestlers strive for, the team has a tough slate ahead including an early-season trip to Raleigh for the NC State-hosted Wolfpack Duals and Wolfpack Open. December and January will be busy travel months for the team with trips to the Midwest Classic in Indianapolis and Las Vegas for the Desert Duals to close out 2019, and trips to Kansas and Colorado to break in the new year.
The Braves will compete four times at home, with the finale coming in the biggest spot as they host the NCAA Southeast Regional late in February, giving the team a chance to clinch national tournament spots on home soil.
“It’s a home mat event. If anybody says it’s not, they’re crazy,” Johnson said. “For that entire event, you don’t have to do anything foreign. To have one of the biggest tournaments of the season in your gym where you know the climate, that’s an advantage that is next to none.”
Other UNCP home matches include the Pembroke Classic on Nov. 10, as well as a dual meet with Limestone on Nov. 26 and a tri-meet with Greensboro College and Spartanburg Methodist on Feb. 11.
