ND continues to show progress on mat

LAWRENCE » Rebuilding a wrestling program requires time and patience, but it sure looks like E.J. Nemeth has Notre Dame headed in the right direction following last year’s 1-11 campaign.

With 14 freshmen and three new sophomores in its room, Notre Dame’s numbers are way up. So is its attitude and it was on display Wednesday night as Notre Dame won its second match of the year by holding off Steinert, 43-36.

“It was good to see,” said Nemeth. “We had some kids win their first ever matches tonight. Last year we didn’t have enough wrestlers and of the ones we had half of them were heavyweights. The numbers this year are great.”

It all came down to the last bout of the evening and sophomore Nick

DiPalma delivered the goods for the Irish by posting a 14-5 major decision at 132 pounds after Steinert had drew to within 39-36 on a pin by Anthony LaPianna at 126.

Throw in a match-opening pin by its best wrestler, 138-pounder Sal Famularo, and Steinert can hold its own against some teams in the lightweights.

What it was lacking against Notre Dame was one additional gun. Steinert has such a weapon in its program with 138-pounder Nick Ricigliano, but his status for the entire year is unclear because of a detached retina.

With Steinert holding its own down below, it was up to Notre Dame’s upper weights to the job done. This they were able to do, starting with freshman Andy Orzik posting his first varsity win with a 3-1 decision over Keiven Rezkalla at 215. All of Orzik’s points were of the penalty variety.

Orzik’s win put Notre Dame ahead by the score of 27-18 and then Ben Gaylord kept the momentum going with a pin at 2:14 at heavyweight. This was particularly huge because Steinert’s Max Power nearly decked Gaylord in the first period with a headlock before the Irish wrestler came roaring back.

Notre Dame also got a pin by its top wrestler, last year’s region qualifier Nick Frantzen at 150 pounds, as well as Logan Whitlock at 165.

While it’s true Notre Dame is still very much a work in progress, the very good thing is progress is once again being made.

Notre Dame (2-8) 43, Steinert (0-2) 36

138-Famularo (S) p. Hunt, 1:28; 144-Mahon (S) p. Mulray, 1:16; 150-Frantzen (ND) p. Hart, 5:17; 157-Caruso (S) wbf; 1564-Whitlock (ND) p. Giglio, :32; 175-Merendino (ND) wbf; 190-Bilardo (S) p. Hosmer, 1:20; 215-Orzik (ND) d. Rezkalla, 3-1; Hvy-Gaylord (ND) p. Power, 2:41; 106-Pelka (S) wbf; 113-Bigger (S) wbf; 120-Molina (ND) p. Stefaniak, 3:35; 126-LaPiana (S) p. Krimmel, 3:30; 132-DiPalma (ND) d. DiPalma, 14-5.