2024 NCWA National Championships Recap
NCWA Nationals results are on Flowrestling: https://arena.flowrestling.org/event/3b3ff7c6-072d-41a7-8a73-12d7ea3c1988
Blurb will be written when I’m less hosed.
2024 NCWA Northeastern Conference Championships Recap
The MIT Engineers competed at the NCWA Northeast Conference Championships on Sunday, March 2. The small but mighty team put forth a strong showing at conferences, ending up with three conference champions and four conference placers.
The Engineers’ matches showed heart, with one wrestler even continuing to fight for almost an entire period with a dislocated shoulder. Though the men’s team was by far the smallest team at conferences with only three wrestlers, each man fought hard and represented MIT well.
The Engineers were a bit more fortuitous on the women’s side, with Coach McNeil winning the conference’s Women’s Coach of the Year award, Veloria Pannell winning the Women’s Outstanding Wrestler award, and the women’s team winning the championship overall.
MIT ended the day with three national qualifiers, who will be heading to Shreveport, Louisiana for the NCWA National Championships in two weeks: Sam Calvert (184 lbs), Viveca Pannell (130 lbs), and Veloria Pannell (143 lbs).
Results are posted on Flowrestling: https://arena.flowrestling.org/event/65ff9b66-ef0f-47c3-8487-0a735863357c
Team Score
The MIT men’s team took 10th out of 10 teams with 26 team points.
The MIT women’s team took 1st out of 4 teams with 34 team points.
Individual Results
Here’s how everyone did:
Chris Espitia-Alvarez placed 8th and went 1-3 at 149 lbs.
He lost by pin in 4:57 against Andrew Brevot (RPI).
He won by tech fall against Will Peale.
He lost by injury forfeit against Vehaan Keswani (Northeastern).
He lost by injury forfeit against Djan Carbonell (RPI).
Will Peale went 0-2 at 149 lbs.
He lost by pin in 2:03 against Ezekiel Gunnison (Northeastern).
He lost by tech fall against Chris Espitia-Alvarez.
Sam Calvert placed 1st and went 3-0 at 184 lbs.
He won by pin in 4:04 against Ethan Mayo (UMass).
He won 4-0 against Jaimeson Shea (Stony Brook).
He won 10-4 against Johnny Andre (STCC).
Viveca Pannell went 2-0.
She won by pin in 6:51 against Morgan Fonger (UMaine).
She won by tech fall against Maia Di Scala (RPI).
Veloria Pannell went 2-0.
She won by pin in 4:55 against Morgan Fonger (UMaine).
She won by tech fall against Emma Fonger (UMaine).
2023-2024 Week 11 Update
This week was a training focused one, as conferences on March 2 approach! As always, the Engineers were hard at work in the DuPont wrestling room. Practices this week were focused on honing technique and getting in the last few hard sessions before next week’s slight taper for conferences.
Be sure to stay tuned for conferences! MIT is looking forward to having another year of many national qualifiers.
The NCWA Northeast Conference Championships will take place in Troy, NY. MIT will get to face off against all the other club wrestling teams in the Northeast Conference, including Main Maritime Academy, Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute, Springfield Technical Community College, Stony Brook University, University of New Hampshire, Fordham University, Northeastern University, University of Connecticut, University of Maine, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of New Haven, University of Rhode Island, and Yale University.
The top 6 placers in each weight class will automatically qualify for nationals, and 12 wildcards may be distributed to other quality wrestlers in any weight class. MIT will be bringing 5 total wrestlers to conferences: Chris Espitia-Alvarez (149 lbs), Will Peale (149 lbs), Sam Calvert (184 lbs), Viveca Pannell (130 lbs), and Veloria Pannell (143 lbs). Stay on the lookout for how these wrestlers do next week!
2023-2024 Week 10 Update
This week, the Engineers finished out their second week of the spring semester as well as the last of their in-season meets; now on to post-season!
This season so far has featured great showings from all our wrestlers, including: Andrew Acevedo, Chris Espitia-Alvarez, David Santana, Eric Gai, Sam Calvert, Seth Robles, Will Peale, Veloria Pannell, and Viveca Pannell. Choosing to move on to the post-season meets (NEC Conference Championships on 3/2, potentially NCWA Nationals 3/14-3/16) is our final championship lineup:
Chris Espitia-Alvarez (149 lbs)
Will Peale (149 lbs)
Sam Calvert (184 lbs)
Viveca Pannell (130 lbs)
Veloria Pannell (143 lbs)
Be sure to stay on the lookout for the results from MIT Wrestling’s final performances of the year at conferences in Troy, NY and at nationals in Shreveport, LA!
And if you know any of the wrestlers personally, be sure to congratulate them on a great season next time you see them! You can expect updates on this blog to continue until the end of the NCWA National Championships, before the team takes a break; then expect a few updates in April and this summer about what the team is up to in the off-season before the beginning of next season in the fall!
2024 Wildcat Invitational Recap
On Sunday 2/18, the Engineers competed at the Wildcat Invitational hosted by the University of New Hampshire. Although it was a small meet (two of the five registered teams did not end up attending), MIT put in a good showing of matches in quick succession.
The meet featured a lot of tough wrestling in neutral and on top for the Engineers, who championed the meet in team score. The wrestlers showed immense improvement from since even the beginning of the semester, and toughness (plus good conditioning) when they inevitably had to wrestle another match not long after their previous ones (and sometimes with pooled weights as well).
Meet results are posted on the NCWA website: https://ncwa.net/events/wildcat-invitational-mens-division/results
Team Results
MIT took first out of three teams.
Individual Results
Here’s how everyone did:
Chris Espitia-Alvarez went 3-0.
He won by pin in 1:40 against Beckett Herman (UMass).
He won by pin in 2:10 against Matthew Mancini (UMass).
He won 6-5 against Victor Rodriguez (UMass).
Will Peale went 1-1.
He won 14-8 against Matthew Mancini (UMass).
He lost by tech fall against Beckett Herman (UMass).
Eric Gai went 0-3.
He lost 9-20 against Victor Rodriguez (UMass).
He lost by pin in 2:40 against Todd Chiasson (UMass).
He lost by pin in 2:05 against Maxwell Posner (UMass).
Sam Calvert went 3-0.
He won by pin in 2:32 against Maxwell Posner (UMass).
He won by pin in 2:06 against Dominic Castaldi (UMass).
He won by pin in 1:03 against Jack McCann (UNH).
2024 Henry Marsh Invitational Recap
On Sunday 2/11, the MIT Engineers competed at the Henry Marsh Invitational hosted at the University of New Hampshirt in Durham, NH. Despite the meet being relatively small, it was a good day of matches.
This was the first NCWA meet that the Engineers have competed at since the Esquivel Duals, and it was a good preview of the competition that the wrestlers will see at the Wildcat Invitational next week and at the NEC Conference Championships in March.
The Henry Marsh Invitational was also a good way to kick off the spring part of the season, coming in right after the first week of school. The meet included some solid performances, an amazing comeback in points (with a rapid succession of takedowns), and a good first showing from a wrestler who came back from an injury from the fall. The Engineers’ strong wrestling this weekend is sure to continue into the upcoming meets!
Meet results are posted on the NCWA website: https://ncwa.net/events/henry-marsh-invitational-mens-division/results (men’s division), https://ncwa.net/events/henry-marsh-invitational-womens-division/results (women’s division)
Team Results
There was no team scoring for this event.
Individual Results
Here’s how everyone did:
Will Peale went 0-2 at 149 lbs.
He lost by pin in 1:18 against Andrew Brevot (RPI).
He lost by pin in 2:30 against Matthew Chalmers (UMaine).
Sam Calvert placed 2nd and went 2-1 at 184 lbs.
He won 9-1 against Tyler Lynde (Stony Brook).
He won by tech fall against Jaimeson Shea (Stony Brook).
He lost by pin in 6:30 against Johnny Andre (STCC).
Viveca Pannell went 2-0 at the women’s division (pooled weights).
She won by pin in 1:00 against Maia di Scala (RPI).
She won by pin against Morgan Fonger (UMaine).
Veloria Pannell went 2-0 at the women’s division (pooled weights).
She won by pin in 4:00 against Morgan Fonger (UMaine).
We won by pin against Emma Fonger (UMaine).
2023-2024 Week 9 Update
The spring semester at MIT started up on February 5, and with everyone back on campus, all the MIT Engineers have been back to training!
This spring will include the last couple of in-season meets at the University of New Hampshire before the Northeast Conference Championships and NCWA nationals. Stay tuned for updates for the second half of the MIT wrestling season!
First meet will be the Henry Marsh Invitational on February 11 at UNH, followed by the Wildcat Invitational on February 18 (also at UNH). Conference championships will take place at Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute on March 2. After that, those who qualify will go to NCWA Nationals in Shreveport, LA just in time for Pi Day (the national championships are 3/14-3/17).
A Short Aside About Busyness
Sorry, late post again. I’ll also post a Henry Marsh recap when those results are finally released as well. Spring will be busy, but I’ll try to get back to the normal posting schedule.
A couple of our wrestlers have gotten quite busy as well, with some opting to take the spring semester off of wrestling to focus on classes, research, and other projects, so the team might be a bit small for the spring semester, but we’re still a good strong group (expecting six wrestlers for 2/18).
2023-2024 IAP Update
Apologies for neglecting the blog this IAP!
IAP (independent activities period) at MIT is always an interesting time. For the month of January each year, students are invited to optionally return to campus after the holidays. During this time of year, many special events, seminars, workshops, and classes are held around campus. The knowledge offerred during IAP is usually not your normal semester class content, but can still be fascinating and explore subjects you may not have even heard of before.
That being said, not everyone returns to campus. As such, the wrestling room has still been buzzing this IAP, but a few of the usual suspects are missing. Regardless of whether the Engineers are in the DuPont wrestling room or at their hometown gyms, though, they have all still been hard at work in their winter training!
Practice has been going along as usual, and we’ve had a few special guest appearances by wrestlers from UMass, Northeastern, and Harvard who wanted to train with MIT, making the MIT wrestling practices a sort of hub for various club wrestlers in the area.
IAP is also a time when many students pick up new hobbies, so we’ve been seeing a good handful of new faces in the room as well! Luckily, MIT students are diligent learners, so the new guys are picking up things pretty quickly and may consider competing for the team either in February or next year.
I know I assumed I’d resume weekly updates during IAP, but this IAP has been surprisingly busy, and there haven’t been too many changes since the end of the fall, so your weekly scheduled(-ish) broadcast should resume when the spring semester starts up.
A Preview for the Spring
Coming this spring semester is the last stretch of the 2023-2024 wrestling season!
The first competition of the spring will be the Henry Marsh Invitational on February 11 at the University of New Hampshire! The Engineers will face tough opponents from all over the New England area here.
The next meet will also be at UNH; it will be the Wildcat Invitational on February 18. This will mark the last meet of the season before the Engineers enter the qualifiers to nationals!
March 3 will be the NCWA Northeast Conference Championships at RPI. At conferences, the wrestlers will get a chance to qualify for nationals, facing off against competitors from all over our conference, including schools such as UNH, RPI, UMass, Northeastern, and STCC.
To cap off the season, those who qualify will wrestle at the NCWA National Championships from March 14 to March 17 (how fitting, nationals starts on Pi Day this year!) in Shreveport, Louisiana. As this year has seemed to be a large step up from last year for the Engineers, we’ll see how MIT performs at in Louisiana!
For those of you following the MIT ladies, there is one last competition on the women’s side in April: the USA Wrestling Women’s Nationals in Spokane, Washington on April 12 to April 14. This is also the weekend of CPW, so new admittees will get to meet the team then too!
2024 Will Abele Invitational/Ursinus Open Recap
On the weekend of 1/13-1/14, the MIT Engineers competed at Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA. The wrestlers fought hard at their last NCAA tournament of the season!
Because it was still IAP (spring semester hadn’t started yet), the team was limited to the few wrestlers available; however, the team still put forth a good showing.
Official results for the men on Flowrestling: https://arena.flowrestling.org/event/0d0ec401-86e4-4e08-803a-032596ec6c3f Official results for the women on Flowrestling: https://arena.flowrestling.org/event/a70d903b-4033-42df-824b-2b685a60e57e
Team Scores
The MIT men took 16th out of 17 teams with 15 points (and only one wrestler).
The MIT women took 3rd out of 16 teams with 6 points.
Individual Results
Here’s how everyone did:
Sam Calvert placed 4th and went 3-2 at 184 lbs.
He won by pin in 2:06 against Dennis Nugra (Scranton).
He won 5-3 against Tyreece Cherival (Western New England).
He won 9-6 against Elon Martin (RIT).
He lost by pin in 3:57 against Max Borton (Ursinus).
He lost by pin in 0:42 against Ryan Fairchild (Muhlenberg).
Viveca Pannell went 2-2 at 130 lbs (freestyle).
She won 12-4 against Cadence Howard (East Stroudsburg).
She lost by tech fall against Kira Pipkins (Columbia).
She won by tech fall against Natalia Morales (Bergen).
She lost by tech fall against Gabby Bradigan (Elmira).
Veloria Pannell placed 2nd and went 3-1 at 143 lbs (freestyle).
She won by pin in 0:48 against Olivia Wojtusik (New England College).
She won by pin in 3:28 against Angelina Hiller (East Stroudsburg).
She won 11-4 against Dakota-Marie Dinielli (Western New England).
She lost by tech fall against Zoey Lints (Elmira).
2023 Nassau Open Recap
On Sunday 12/11, the MIT Engineers wrestled at the Nassau Open in Garden City, New York, facing tough opponents from the top NCAA (DI, DII, and DIII), JUCO, and NCWA teams in the area.
Everyone showed great improvement at this meet in terms of adaptability, awareness, and execution. Even the Engineers’ losses were characterized by strong determination and minor areas of improvement. The team’s efforts at Nassau were the result of a semester’s worth of hard work and a preview of the even better performances to come this IAP and next semester!
Official results are on Trackwrestling: https://www.trackwrestling.com/opentournaments/MainFrame.jsp?newSession=false&TIM=1702338696734&pageName=%2Fopentournaments%2FTournamentHub.jsp&twSessionId=kbukugbzkd.
Team Score
There was no team scoring at this tournament.
Individual Results
Here’s how everyone did:
Andrew Acevedo went 1-2 at 133 lbs.
He lost by pin in 1:15 against Chris Casale (Sussex).
He won 15-2 against Carlos Cruz (Lackawanna College).
He lost by tech fall against Caleb Peralta (Nassau Community College).
Christopher Espitia-Alvarez went 1-2 at 141 lbs.
He lost by pin in 2:43 against Kelvin Rodriguez (unattached).
He won by pin in 4:39 against Michael Tavares (Northeastern University).
He lost by pin in 6:47 against Armando Keifner (Camden Community College).
Eric Gai went 0-2 at 165 lbs.
He lost by pin in 3:27 against Sergio Cespedes (East Stroudsberg College).
He lost 13-27 against Aiden Gilchrist (Northeastern University).
Sam Calvert placed 2nd and went 3-1 at 184 lbs.
He won 10-5 against Jordan Diab (unattached).
He won by pin in 5:52 against Joe Lopresti (Long Island University).
He lost by pin in 1:46 against Joe Curtis (Columbia University).
Viveca Pannell placed 1st and went 4-0 at 130 lbs (freestyle).
She won by pin in 1:08 against Cadence Howard (East Stroudsberg College).
She won by tech fall against Claire Daity (New Jersey City University).
She won by pin in 0:39 against Kimberly Guatemala (unattached).
She won by pin in 1:28 against Chelsea Marcelle (Columbia University).
Veloria Pannell placed 1st and went 3-0 at 143 lbs (freestyle).
She won by tech fall against Anisa Thompson (Columbia University).
She won by pin in 2:17 against Angelia Hiller (East Stroudsberg College).
She won 7-2 against Jayla Hahn (East Stroudsberg College).