JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Coach Josh Hutchens knew going into the Mountain Cat Duals that his Frostburg State wrestling program was facing some long odds.
The first-year program was scheduled to wrestle three of the top teams in Division II on Saturday — although weather issues and the fact that the Bobcats had already taken on No. 9 UNC-Pembroke last month led them to cancel the final dual of the day.
No. 11 Pitt-Johnstown beat the Bobcats 44-6 and No. 16 Grand Valley State defeated them 34-9.
“We have one non-freshman in the lineup,” Hutchens said. “You’re going to get some more tough competition, some guys four or five years older than you and have old-man strength, lots of college experience. This is where you learn. If you want to get to there, you learn from them.”
Frostburg State (6-10) won its first four dual meets — including a 41-8 victory over NJCAA Garrett College on Nov. 4 — before stepping up in competition in December. January will get even more difficult, and that’s by design, according to Hutchens.
“This month, for us, we planned as a real tough month,” he said. “We kind of eased into the season, had some good, competitive matches. We hit some tough ones already, but this was kind of the start of the tough month. We’ll back off a little in February.”
Then, the Bobcats will get ready for the postseason, which is where all college wrestling coaches and programs are judged. They’ll wrestle at the NCAA Super Region I Tournament in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, on March 2. If they perform well there, individuals can advance to the NCAA Division II Tournament in Wichita, Kansas, on March 15-16.
“Grow, get better as a team and go into the regional tournament and see what we can do in the first year,” Hutchens said. “See if we can get some guys winning some matches, get some guys places and, ultimately, get to the national tournament. If we can do that in the first year, to me, that’s a success.”
The Bobcats got off to a good start on Saturday. After forfeiting the 125-pound weight class, Thierno Diallo pinned Pitt-Johnstown’s Byron Daubert in 1:58 at 133 pounds. Diallo, a 28-year-old who is only a junior academically, scored a pair of takedowns before pinning Daubert, who was an NCAA qualifier last season.
“He was out for a long time,” Hutchens said. “He was taking a while to get back into it. There are some hurdles when you’re out for a while. But he’s gotten back into it and has been a leader on the team.”
Diallo’s pin was the lone highlight against the 8-2 Mountain Cats.
In the second dual, he beat Grand Valley State’s Collin Twigg 9-4 to improve to 10-3 on the season.
“He had a good day,” Hutchens said. “I think he’s getting better each week as we go through the season.”
The Bobcats won two other bouts against the team from Michigan, as Mason Buckler beat Caden Jacobs 8-5 in sudden victory at 157 pounds and Liam DeBaugh followed with a 4-3 win over Trammel Robinson at 165.
With heavy snow falling in Johnstown, Hutchens and UNC-Pembroke coach Othello Johnson decided to forego another dual. The Braves beat the Bobcats 41-3 on Dec. 3, with Gavin Bage’s 2-1 victory over Massimo Sullivan at 285 pounds providing the lone points for FSU.
“We’d already wrestled them,” Hutchens said Saturday, “so we figured there was no reason to keep us here any longer and put us in danger.”
The Bobcats are scheduled to compete at the Virginia Duals in Hampton on Friday and Saturday before returning to the Keystone State for the Shippensburg Duals on Jan. 20. Hutchens is confident that his young Bobcats will continue to improve in the months and years ahead.
“We have a lot of young guys that have a lot of talent that are going to be looking pretty good by the end of the year and looking pretty good by the end of their careers,” he said. “We’re pretty excited about the future. Hopefully, two months from now, we’re competing well.”