The MIT Wrestling team capped off a historic season, finishing with one national champion and a total of three all-Americans at NCWA Nationals. Sarah Sams is MIT’s first national champion in women’s wrestling. MIT had two additional all Americans, Viveca Pannell finished in 3rd place and Keith Skaggs finished in 7th place. Sarah and Viveca are the second and third all-Americans in the NCWA women’s division for MIT (Elena Glassman took 2nd at the NCWA National Championship at 130lbs for MIT in 2010). The MIT women’s team finished in 4th place out of 31 teams. In additional to the All American performances, the team had strong performances by Sam Calvert, Zoe Pasetsky, Brendan O’Neill, and Logan Madrigal-Silver, all who fell just short of all American status.

How it happened

Sarah Sams (soph) entered the tournament as the #1 seed at 191lbs, going undefeated during the regular season (6-0) and winning the Northeast Conference Championship. In the quarterfinals, Sarah won by fall over Rebecca Dooley (Michigan Wrestling Club) in two minutes and two seconds. In the semi-finals, she squared off against Renaeh Ureste (Grays Harbor College), winning by fall in one minute and thirty-nine seconds. In the finals, Sarah met Kiley Hubby (Big Bend Community College), the #2 seed and 2022 junior college national champion. Sarah was able to win by an 11-7 decision to take home the individual title.

Viveca Pannell (fresh) entered the tournament as the #6 seed at 123lbs. Viveca was undefeated during the regular season (8-0) and finished second in the Northeast Conference Championship. In the first round, Viveca Pannell defeated Julian Yates (Grays Harbor College), winning by fall in three minutes and fifty-five seconds. In the quarter finals, she met Toby Coby (Western Washington), the #3 seed. She was able to win this match by fall in two minutes and fifteen seconds. In the semi-finals, Viveca lost by technical fall (16-0) to Lauren Stone (University of Florida), the eventual champion and tournament “outstanding wrestler”. Viveca was able to rebound after the semi-final loss to defeat Mia Garza (Texas) by a score of 7-2. In the third place bout, Viveca met Mia Armstrong (Texas-Arlington), the #4 seed. She was able to defeat Armstrong by an 8-6 decision to capture 3rd place.

Keith Skaggs (senior) entered the tournament as the #9 seed at 133 lbs, he finished his regular season with just one loss (13-1) and finished in second place at the Northeast Conference Championship. In the first round, Keith squared off against Jaxson Miller (Tampa) where he won by a 12-0 major decision. In the next round, Keith lost by way of an 8-4 decision to Jeremy Roberts (Grays Harbor College). After this loss, Keith was able to ratte off three consecutive wins in the consolation bracket to earn all American status. In his first consolation match, Keith defeated Caleb Hernanadez (Ohio State Wrestling Club) by a 4-0 decision. He then defeated the #11 seed Gonzalo Aleman (Washington State) by a 6-4 decision. In the all American round, Keith was able to defeat Cody Castelline (Grand Valley State), the #7 seed by a 4-3 decision. In the consolation round of four, Keith squared off against Rahsun Lawrence (East Carolina University, the #3 seed and 2019 national champion. He dropped this match via an 11-2 major decision to battle for 7th place. In the 7th place match, Keith defeated Dawson Downing (UNLV) by a 7-0 decision. Keith finishes his career with MIT as a 2x all American (2019 8th, 2022 7th).

Sam Calvert (fresh) entered the tournament as the #14 seed at 174lbs. He had a strong regular season (9-5) and finished in second place at the Northeast Conference Championship. Sam opened his tournament by defeating Edmond DeAngelis (Liberty) by fall in four minutes and forty-eight seconds. In the next round, Sam faced Parker Drake (Lincoln Memorial University), the #3 seed. He came back from an early deficit to win 15-9 to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Sam lost by fall in forty-five seconds to John Arentz (Penn State WC). In the All American round Sam lost by a 10-2 major decision to Zachary Wolanin (Ohio State WC) to end his tournament run.

Zoe Pasetsky (fresh) entered the tournament as the #5 seed at 123lbs, finishing a strong regular season (4-3), capped off by a Northeast Conference Championship. In the first round, Zoe won by fall in four minutes and six seconds against Samantha Rodriguez (Texas A&M). In the quarter finals, Zoe lost by fall in two minutes and seven seconds to Mia Armstrong (Texas-Arlington), the #4 seed.. In the consolation round, Zoe was defeated by Mia Garza (Texas) by fall in six minutes and thirty four seconds to end her tournament run.

Brendan O’Neill (Grad) qualified for the national tournament through a wildcard bid and battled hard on the day. In the first round, he lost by a 12-0 major decision to Augustin Ameigeiras (University of Central Florida). In the consolation round, Brendan lost by a 16-1 technical fall to Matthew Henson (Apprentice School) to end his tournament run.

Logan Madrigal-Silver (soph) qualified for the national tournament through a wildcard bid and battled hard on the day. In the first round, he lost by fall in one minute and four seconds to Zion James (University of Central Florida), the #5 seed. In the consolation round, Logan lost by fall in three minutes and fifty nine seconds to Kyle Weinstein (Central Michigan WC) to end his tournament run.

When asked about the team Coach Donald McNeil said “Everyone on the team showed a lot of heart. Even in the matches that we lost the team never gave up. I am extremely proud of their efforts and accomplishments this season. I knew what each of them were capable of, but last week they were able to prove it at the national tournament. The women’s team finished the season with a Northeast Conference Championship first place finish, a Northeast Conference coach of the year award, a fourth place National Championship finish, one national champion (Sarah Sams) and one third place finisher and all American (Viveca Pannell). Additionally, the men’s team showed a lot of promise this year, finishing with one all American (Keith Skaggs) and one wrestler who was one match away from becoming an all American (Sam Calvert). MIT is a young team that will continue to improve and we should be competing for individual and team national championships within the next 1-2 years.”