Gallaudet at UMBC Retriever Invitational Duals

The Bison wrestling team started their 2008-2009 season with just one week of practice, after being reestablished as an NCWA team, almost four years after their last match. They opened in the Retriever Invitational Duals at University of Maryland / Baltimore Country, on November 16 and came away 0-4 as a team, but several individual wrestlers did very well and showed how bright the future is for Gallaudet wrestling.

A full team is 11 wrestlers, one for each weight class. Gallaudet brought seven wrestlers to the 5-team dual meet, and all wrestlers exceeded expectations and gave their best. The best performance at the meet was turned in by Ando Ferguson, who went 3-1, with three pins. The freshman suffered his lone loss to one of the excellence wrestlers, who is a senior and the defending conference and national champion. Head Coach Thad Ferguson was pleased with Ando's performance against such a talented wrestler. "What surprised me was that Ando, who is 17 years old, lasted 2 minutes and 46 seconds against the national champion."

Also performing well was Justin Lathus who went 2-2 with 2 pins. He was 2-1 in the 235 pound class and 0-1 in 285 pound class as he moved up to the heavyweight class where he faced a 284 pounder and suffered his second loss.

The final scores of the matches were:

Towson State University 37-18 over Gallaudet
University of Maryland / Baltimore Country 60-0 over Gallaudet
University of Delaware 51-6 over Gallaudet
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 45-12 over Gallaudet

All four teams have had more time to prepare for the meet as Gallaudet just began formal practices last week, and should continue to improve as the season goes on.

David Tossman
Sports Information Director
Gallaudet University