College postcards
By Bill Free
Sure, the Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill., in late December was a big-time collegiate wrestling event.
But Penn senior Jeff Eveleth couldn’t have predicted just how important the meet would be for him.
“That was huge, “the former standout at Anne Arundel County’s Chesapeake High said of his eighth-place finish at 133 pounds. “It’s like a turning point for my career, hopefully. Placing out there [top eight] has been one of my goals since I’ve been in college. It was pretty exciting to obtain that goal.”
Eveleth has won five of seven bouts since then to improve his overall record to 14-9 and duals record to 5-2.
He seems to have put the injury-marred early years of his Ivy League career behind him. “On my feet, I’ve been keeping better position, and on the mat people haven’t been able to hold me down as much, “Eveleth said.
Penn (4-3 in dual matches) is ranked No. 24 in the nation, with two other Baltimore-area wrestlers contributing this season.
Freshman 125-pounders Andrew Gold (Mount St. Joseph) and Vince Cina (River Hill) have turned in 7-5 and 1-6 records, respectively.
Helping Sooners
Oklahoma’s Jerome Featherstone (Boys’ Latin) has been mixing it up with some of the nation’s top wrestlers as a freshman this season.
Featherstone is 3-2 at 157 pounds for the Sooners, who are 12-4 and ranked No. 6 in the country. All four losses were to Top 5 teams, including a 30-6 loss to No. 3 Iowa State on Sunday.
Featherstone’s second defeat of the season came Sunday against Iowa State’s Trent Paulson by a 4-3 decision. Paulson is ranked No. 5 in the nation at 157.
Another Baltimore-area freshman, Chris De Vilbiss (Liberty), likely will be redshirted at 157 pounds by Oklahoma this season.
Wrestling Gear
