Sports Shorts
Geesman Earns Institute’s First Nationwide Seeding in Men’s Wrestling
In light of a spectacular early season run, MIT heavyweight Glenn J. Geesman ’09 has been ranked ninth in Division III among wrestlers in his weight class by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. It is the first time in recent history that an MIT wrestler has been awarded nationwide seeding.
Geesman earned victories in all but one of his bouts this season. He also won all three tournaments he entered, standing at 13-1 overall. After winning all four of his matches in the Springfield Tournament on Nov. 17, the New England Wrestling Association named him Wrestler of the Week.
To date, Geesman’s most impressive victory occurred in the finals of the Springfield tournament, when he defeated the No. 5 ranked wrestler in the country in the finals. After the win, MIT head coach Tom Layte proved a bit prophetic when he said, “It is possible [Glenn] may get ranked nationally.”
The MIT stalwart also topped all of his opponents at the annual tournaments at Roger Williams University and Rochester Institute of Technology.
—Mike Stoller, DAPER Staff
Link Selected as NFC Fencer of the Month
Following her stellar performance at the season-opening Northeast Fencing Conference competition last month, Cordelia S. Link ’10 was selected as the NFC Fencer of the Month. She compiled a record of 17-1 to lead the entire league’s foil contingent. For the year, Link has a ledger of 30-9, while MIT has a team mark of 7-6.
Members of the NFC include Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis University, Brown University, Dartmouth College, the University of Massachusetts, the University of New Hampshire, Smith College, Tufts University, and Wellesley College.
—Mindy Brauer, DAPER Staff
Geesman, Jameson Win Weight Divisions At RIT Tourney; MIT Places 11th of 14
Wrestlers Glenn J. Geesman ’09 and Sean D. Jameson ’10 provided the major highlights for MIT, winning their respective championships at the Rochester Institute of Technology Tournament this past Saturday. Overall, MIT finished 11th out of 14 teams. Rhode Island College won the event with a score of 121.5, followed by Wilkes University (117) and Williams College (96).
Geesman rolled through all three of his opponents with wins by fall, as the junior heavyweight improved his season ledger to 13-1. In succession, Geesman took down Lawrence Neubauer, Mike Edwards, and Jake Taylor. Geesman stopped Taylor of State University of New York at Oswego in the title match at 1:02, while halting Neubauer of Waynesburg University and Edwards of Thiel College at 1:05 and 3:18, respectively.
Jameson, at 197 pounds, won all of his matches by decision, 7-5, 6-1, and 5-1, defeating Kevin Davis of Rhode Island College in the final bout.
The Engineers also got one win apiece from Grant M. Kadokura ’11, Travis C. Samuel ’08, and Joseph B. Silverman ’10. Kadokura, at 125 pounds, and Samuel, at 165, took 10-0 and 16-1 major decisions, while Silverman won by a 4-2 count at 197 pounds.
MIT will next compete in the North/South Duals in Collegeville, Penn., on Jan. 5.
—Mike Stoller, DAPER Staff
Pistol Narrowly Earns Victory Against Coast Guard, Crushes Women’s Competition
In its final dual competition of the semester, the MIT pistol team defeated the U.S. Coast Guard Academy 6,062-5,845 this past weekend. On the women’s side, the Engineers overpowered the Bears 2,498-1,864.
In air pistol, MIT captured the top four spots en route to a 2,144-2,052 victory. Fuzhou Hu ’09 led the way with a total of 542, followed by Christine T. Hsueh ’10 (537), Daniel Jang ’10 (536), and Bernard J. Arnest ’09 (529).
A pair of 531 marks from Hsueh and Hu helped power the Engineers to a 2,009-1,953 win in standard pistol. Coast Guard notched scores of 515 and 498, but MIT’s Andrew K. Sugaya ’11 and Lihua Bai ’09 countered with tallies of 482 and 465 to seal the victory.
Although the Bears claimed the top spot in free pistol with a score of 507, it was not enough as the Engineers went on to a 1,909-1,840 victory. Once again, Hu paced the Cardinal and Gray with a total of 495 and Jang contributed a 482. Arnest and Benjamin Chang bolstered MIT’s performance with marks of 467 and 465.
In women’s air pistol, the Engineers defeated the Bears, 1,034-941, as Hsueh powered the squad with a 355. Bai finished three points behind her, while Michelle C. Ma ’10 contributed a score of 327. MIT was a force to be reckoned with in women’s sport pistol as it overpowered Coast Guard 1,464-923. Hsueh led the charge with a total of 538, while Bai’s mark of 466 claimed third place. Xudan Liu ’10 rounded out the contingent with a tally of 460.
The pistol teams return to competition on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 9 a.m. when they host the USA Junior Olympics.
—Mindy Brauer, DAPER Staff
Squash Earns First Victory of Season Against Bryant, Falls to Middlebury
David S. Baumgartner ’08 and Balaji V. Sridhar ’09 each dispatched their opponents in straight-set shutouts to help propel MIT’s squash team to its first victory of the season, 9-0, over Bryant University this past Saturday afternoon in the Zesiger Center. Earlier in the day, the Engineers fell to Middlebury College by a similar 9-0 score-line.
MIT (1-5) opened its weekend with a Saturday morning loss to visiting Middlebury, which finished 26th at last year’s Collegiate Squash Association Team Championships. Andrew Yoon ’10 nearly stole his match out of the No. 1 position, dropping a tight first game, 9-7, but was limited by shin splits and fell in the final two games, 9-2, 9-3.
With the afternoon match against Bryant occurring just hours after the morning opener against Middlebury, the Engineers had no time to contemplate the loss. MIT rose to the occasion and showed no ill effects of the earlier encounter, as the team breezed past the Bulldogs, 9-0, courtesy of nine 3-0 sweeps.
Sridhar and Baumgarter each won their matches without conceding a point, taking down their opponents 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 from the No. 2 and No. 5 positions, respectively. Yoon, Xing Yuan ’08, Jonathan H. Schechter ’08, and Saad Zaheer ’09 each allowed just one or two points over the course of their entire three-game matches. Pawan Deedwaniya ’08, George W. Pratt ’10, and Robert A. Habib ’11 all swept their matches as well, with none of them conceding more than four points in a match.
Stephen B. Howland ’11 (also a Tech production staff member) participated in an exhibition match, sweeping his opponent, 9-0, 9-4, 9-0.
The Engineers next compete on Saturday, Feb. 9, when they will host Colby College at 10 a.m.
—Jeff Lemieux, DAPER Staff
Women’s Fencing Finishes Season With Two Wins and Two Losses at Brandeis Invitational
The MIT women’s fencing team closed its season by defeating Cornell University (14-13) and Yale University (18-9) before falling to St. John’s University (18-9) and Brown University (17-10) at the Brandeis University Invitational on Saturday. Following their performance, the Engineers’ ledger moved to 7-6 on the year.
The foil team registered the best showing of the day as it compiled a record of 19-17, including victories over Yale, Cornell, and Brown. Cordelia S. Link ’10 led the way with a total of 9-3, and Lindley C. Graham ’10 went 6-6. Chun Li ’08 contributed a mark of 2-10, while Jenna G. Caldwell ’11 won two out of her three bouts.
Like Link, Yuhsin Chen ’08 amassed a total of 9-3 as the sabre team finished with a ledger of 17-19. Laura A. Evans ’10 (5-7) and Elena A. Tatarchenko ’11 (3-9) rounded out Tech’s contingent, which picked up a pair of 6-3 decisions over Yale and Cornell.
The foil team notched a record of 15-21, with Stephanie H. Shin ’10 and Joanna W. Tong ’08 each tallying marks of 6-6. Zhenya Gu ’08 wrapped up the competition with a 3-9 performance.
—Mindy Brauer, DAPER Staff
MIT Closes Men’s Fencing Season at Brandeis Invitational
In its final outing of the semester, the MIT men’s fencing team fell to Brown University (15-12), Yale University (15-12), and St. John’s University (20-7) at the Brandeis University Invitational on Saturday. With the losses, the Engineers’ ledger fell to 4-7 on the year.
The sabre team registered the best performance of the day for MIT in compiling a record of 18-9, including an 8-1 win versus Yale. Rangarajan D. Nadadur ’10 and Igor Kopylov ’09 both posted marks of 7-2, while Maximilian L. Brand ’11 went 4-5.
Gabriel A. Chan ’09 compiled a 4-5 record, leading the epee team to a tally of 10-17. Jeremy S. Hurwitz ’08 and Matt L. Gethers ’09 rounded out the contingent with records of 3-6. The foil team notched a record of 3-24, with Spencer R. Sugimoto ’08, Benjamin T. Switala ’09, and Sebastian Castro ’04 each picking up a win.
—Mindy Brauer, DAPER Staff