The Brockport Golden Eagles wrestling team honored seven seniors ahead of their final home dual meet of the season against the Elmira Soaring Eagles. The seven seniors honored were Liam Bullock, Nick Franco, Francis Whitehouse, Marquis Larmond, Mahmoud Esa, Elvis Vasquez and Alex Fronczak.
The Golden Eagles jumped out to an early 12-0 lead with two forfeits at the 125 and 133-pound weight classes. Their only loss of the day came at 141 as Whitehouse took a major decision loss. From then on there was no stopping the Golden Eagles as Esa edged out a win by decision.
Max Morrison trailed 13-7 late in the second period. He pulled off a lat drop that put his opponent on his back and almost secured the pinfall victory but still added four points before the end of the second. With a Morrison stand-up from the bottom, making the match within one, Morrison scored an electrifying takedown that got The Vlog rocking to win the match 15-13.
Next up was Larmond at 165-pounds, who made it look easy after going up 9-2, executing a flawless cradle for a pinfall victory. At 174-pounds, Gavin McLaughlin cruised to a technical fall victory, pouring it on for the Golden Eagles.
184-pounds is where Kiam Coleman produced the pin of the night, after a slow-paced start that saw Coleman up 3-2 late in the first period. After a scramble, Coleman produced a spladle to stick his opponent for the pinfall victory.
Riding the momentum, Brockport’s 197-pounder Elijah Bonet got the hard-fought pin midway through the second period. To put a bow on a dominant showing for the Golden Eagles was another senior in Franco at 285 to finish the meet late in the first period.
Brockport wrestling head coach Sam Recco highlighted his seniors’ impact on and off the mat.
“I’m just happy that I can come in as a young coach and those seniors just see me as their father figure here and a leader and just trust in my process and follow me,” Recco said. “I’m just so thankful to have them here these past two seasons and I think all seven seniors are pretty tough wrestlers but even much better men.”
Senior Esa reflected on his role as a mentor at Brockport.
“I could tell by without them even saying anything that it means a lot,” Esa said. “I was in their shoes once, two, four years ago. And I had great mentors, leaders, and older guys that I looked up to, and they took me under their wing and showed me everything. So, it’s amazing to be able to spread that positivity back to the young ones.”
Coleman, an underclassman, spoke highly of his senior teammates.
“My seniors, they mean a lot to me, guys like Marquis, Fran, Mo, all of us, they keep me motivated,” Coleman said. “They faced a lot of adversity throughout their wrestling career and it keeps me motivated because I know they went through it and weathered the storm so I know I could do it.”
Coleman says he just trusted his instincts in executing his match-winning maneuver.
“I just tried it. I was like, you know, his legs are there I’m going to throw in the leg. If it doesn’t work, what’s the worst that could happen,” Coleman said. “I mean, I had him in the bag already. I felt like I had him mentally beat so I just decided to go for it.”
Larmond, a captain in his final season for the Golden Eagles explained his mindset stepping on the mat for the final time at Brockport.
“I remember one of the athletic trainers John Jackson says be a wolf,” Larmond said. “I did that stomp on a mat because he told us a story one time about a national champion that always stomped on the mat. So, I just thought about it. Stomp on a mat, be a wolf, wrestle as hard as I can.”
The Golden Eagles’ dual meet record goes to 2-11 with his victory. A road matchup against RIT is up next on Feb. 16.
