‘Remember your why’

__ By Braedan Shea __ @braedan_shea

When the first half of the Springfield College wrestling season came to a close, the team was nothing short of unstoppable. After a strong team performance from the Pride in the 2022 Messiah Petrofes Invitational, capped off by three athletes taking first in their respective weight classes

– Joey Manginelli (125 pounds), Chase Parrott (149 pounds), and Jacob Deguire (157 pounds) –Springfield cruised into the month-long break from competition.

The Pride had yet to finish outside the top 10 in any of their six invitational appearances - three of which Springfield finished in second place. In head-to-head matches, the team bolstered a perfect 3-0 record, which included a 50-0 shutout victory against Springfield Technical Community College in the City of Springfield Championship.

With such an impressive stretch of competitions until the winter hiatus, Springfield had amassed quite the momentum to power the Pride through the second half. But with a

28-day break between matches, it would be no easy task for most teams to keep that same fire and energy.

But this is not most teams.

Although Springfield has opened its first month back to action by going 6-4 in headto-head matches, three of those losses came against high-ranked opponents. And in each of those losses, the Pride gave up good bouts. Against No. 18 Ohio Northern University, Springfield only lost by 16 after jumping out to a 16-9 lead. Versus No. 24 Castleton University, the Pride also held a lead before falling 25-6, and in a battle against the nation’s second-ranked team in Johnson & Wales University, Springfield fought hard in a 30-13 loss.

While the record may not be quite as good as it was earlier in the year, the team still believes that it is at its strongest point – because of the collective high energy, and head coach Jason Holder’s coaching style.

“We’ve been kicking some butt since we’ve been back,” senior Gianni Manginelli said. “And that’s due to our guys’ energy level – we feel fresh out there. Coach has also been a huge part. He has this plan for every athlete to make sure you peak at the right time. You can tell when we’re going against teams where we have more energy, or more conditioning, and we’re having more fun out there.”

Springfield has definitely been hitting its peak as of late. In its last four matches, the Pride have won each by at least 21 or more points. In the most recent John Reese Duals on Jan. 29, where the team beat SUNY Oneonta 47-3, Muhlenberg College 32-10 and Wilkes University 37-16, Manginelli felt that this was the team’s highlight of the year.

“We just came back from a dual tournament in [Pennsylvania], and we just actually crushed good teams,” he said. “It wasn’t even close. We sent only 12 guys, while other teams sent like 40. It was such a power-move, and we totally destroyed it. It was fun.”

Some of the team success can also be attributed to having the ability to step away from the sport for some time.

“I think the break is necessary to just get the kids’ minds off of competition for a little bit,” Manginelli said. “I do believe that they should be like training and stuff and working out and still being involved in wrestling; but being home and being with family is key just reset your mind for a little bit.”

With the team refreshed, and having the talent to get to nationals, Springfield seems poised to get there. Even more so with everyone being bought in, and most importantly, having fun.

“When you forget your reason why you started this sport, like some people think they just do it just because they’re told to or because Coach told them this, but you compete in college because you think it’s fun,” Manginelli said. “You like to compete, you like to practice everyday, you like to be with the guys every day. It’s really important to ‘remember your why’, we say. It’s not just to get through the year and survive the year – because what’s the point of that? You compete to get better, you train to get better and gain experience, and just have fun with the process.”