YORK, PA – The Johns Hopkins wrestling team closed out the dual meet portion of its 2023-24 schedule by splitting a pair of matches at York on Saturday afternoon.  The Blue Jays, who had to forfeit two weight classes in both matches, fell to the Monarchs, 26-22, before topping the host Spartans, 41-12.
 
Blue Jay Rally Falls Just Short Against Kings
After spotting the Monarchs an early 12-0 lead on forfeits at 125 and 133, the Blue Jays rallied to grab a 19-15 lead only to fall late.
 
After the teams split decisions at 141 and 149, Hopkins won three straight bouts to quickly turn the 15-3 deficit into a 19-15 lead.  Sophmore Connor Powell needed just 2:16 to pin Shane Kibler to ignite the rally and sophomore Jake Hoffman and senior Chris Roybal followed with wins by technical fall to give Hopkins the four-point lead.  Hoffman topped Bret Murphy, 17-1, and Roybal followed with a 15-0 win over Nick Costello.
 
The Monarchs locked up the victory with victories by fall at 184 and technical fall at 197 before Jacob Pomykata closed the match with a 4-1 win by decision for the Blue Jays.
 
Hopkins Wins All Eight Contested Bouts to Roll Past York
Hopkins picked up its second consecutive win in the series against the Spartans as the Blue Jays won all eight contested bouts to cruise to a 41-12 victory.  Again the Blue Jays forfeited at 125 and 133 to fall behind 12-0; this time, it didn't matter.
 
After Max Apsel decisioned Bryan Diaz, 7-5, at 141, the Blue Jays got three straight pins to quicky turn the 12-3 deficit into a 21-12 lead.  Freshman Freddy Pimental needed all of 88 seconds to deck Mohammed Gueddi and Powell and Hoffmann followed with second-period pins.
 
After Nick Hwang's forfeit win at 174 pushed the margin to 27-12, Johns Hopkins closed out the victory with three more bonus-point victories as Roybal and Pomykata sandwiched major decisions around a second period pin from Jack Dunn at 197 to account for the 41-12 final score.
 
Notes of Interest
Apsel, Powell, Hoffmann, Roybal and Pomykata all went 2-0 on the day.  The Blue Jays won 13-of-16 contested bouts in the two duals and amassed five pins, two technical falls and two major decisions among their 13 wins.  Powell's first win of the day was the 35^th of his career – he is now 36-22 overall.  Pimental's win against York was his 20^th of the season.  Hoffmann extended his school single-season record for technical falls to 11.
 
What's Next
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, February 10 when the Blue Jays travel to McDaniel for the 2024 Centennial Conference Championships.
 
King's 26, Johns Hopkins 22
125: Patrick Horvath (K) win by forfeit (6-0)
133: Cole Anderson (K) win by forfeit (12-0)
141: Max Apsel (J) over Hugh Bittenbender (K), Dec 4-2 (12-3)
149: Martin Turi (K) over Freddy Pimental (J), Dec. 5-3 (15-3)
157: Connor Powell (J) over Shane Kibler (K), Fall 2:16 (15-9)
165: Jake Hoffmann (J) over Bret Murphy (K), TF 17-1 (3:40) (15-14)
174: Chris Roybal (J) over Nick Costello (K), TF 15-0 (3:06) (15-19)
184: Connor Wrobleski (K) over Samuel Gledhill (J), Fall 1:49 (21-19)
197: Rich Fronheiser (K) over Jack Dunn (J), TF 18-1 (5:18) (26-19)
285: Jake Pomykata (J) over William Grace (K), Dec 4-1 (26-22)
 
Johns Hopkins 41, York 12
125: Jacob Kresicki (Y) win by forfeit (6-0)
133: Dan Barra (Y) win by forfeit (12-0)
141: Max Apsel (J) over Bryan Diaz (Y), Dec 7-5 (12-3)
149: Freddy Pimental (J) over Mohammed Gueddi (Y), Fall 1:28 (12-9)
157: Connor Powell (J) over Wyatt Patzke (Y), Fall 3:48 (12-15)
165: Jake Hoffmann (J) over Justice Hockenberry (Y), 4:10 (12-21)
174: Nick Hwang (J) win by forfeit (12-27)
184: Chris Roybal (J) over Luca Romasco (Y), MD 17-4 (12-32)
197: Jack Dunn (J) over Carson Queen (Y), Fall 3:38 (12-38)
285: Jake Pomykata (J) over Derek Martin (Y), MD 11-1 (12-41)
 
Exhibtion Matches
157: Fritz Maurath (J) over Brian Hopkins (K), Fall 0:50
165: Nick Hwang (J) over Alex Ballantyne (K), Fall 5:40
 
Records
Johns Hopkins (3-9) | King's (4-4) | York (1-17)