GLENSIDE, Pa. – The Arcadia University men's wrestling program is set to make history this weekend as it kicks off its inaugural season on Saturday at the Messiah Invitational.
Head Coach David Stevens expressed his excitement about the program's first season, saying, "Obviously, we're really excited. It has been a long time coming. I'm definitely excited, nervous—all those fun things. I'd say for the season as a whole, we have high expectations. We're the type of team that has a lot of good wrestlers, great coaches, great facilities, and a great athletic department. We truly believe that we can be top-10 in the country."
The Knights' inaugural roster features 22 first-year student-athletes, seven sophomores, one junior, one senior, and two graduate students. Stevens will rely on a talented recruiting class of newcomers mixed with experienced transfers as the program begins its first competitive season in Glenside.
Earlier this week, Arcadia was ranked eighth in the Region III preseason poll. In the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) rankings, Logan Flynn (285 lbs) was ranked sixth overall, Jacob Blair (133 lbs) was ranked eighth, and Caden Frost (149 lbs) came in at 15th.
Speaking about the leadership of the team's three ranked transfer wrestlers, Stevens said, "Great leadership. Those guys have come in as seniors now and have had a good few years in wrestling already, so they've been leading the freshmen, which has been really huge for us. With having 20-plus freshmen on the team, they've never experienced this before. They've been really great at taking them under their wing and just mentoring them through this time."
Regarding the team's first-year student-athletes, Stevens emphasized development over results: "The biggest thing with our team is we try not to put expectations on our guys. Our sport is so tough—you're out there with nobody else, butting heads with another person. It's a very physical sport. We try to teach them their identity is not in the sport, and that's the first thing that we are really trying to teach these freshmen."
Arcadia men's wrestling officially begins its inaugural campaign on Saturday, November 1, at the Messiah Invitational before traveling for the first dual meet in program history on Wednesday, November 6, at Stevens.
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