Everybody and their mother knew that this wrestling season would be a challenge for Waynesburg University.

And indeed, it has been thus far.

After falling to Messiah in the back end of Saturday’s dual meet, the Jackets had another tough outing Wednesday night at Shippensburg, losing 35-12. 

“It definitely wasn’t one of our best efforts,” head coach Ron Headlee said. “I didn’t think we had a good fight in the match it didn’t seem like.” 

Waynesburg faced stiff competition as Shippensburg wrestles at the Division II level and received top 25 votes at the beginning of the season. 

Things started well for the Jackets when freshman and Washington High School graduate Brenden Hanning picked up a win to put Waynesburg ahead 6-0. However, that win came via forfeit. 

Once the real matches started, Shippensburg took command, winning the first four official bouts. 

The Jackets got some encouragement after that string of losses when senior captain Zach Mackall [165] won a 7-2 decision. After Shippensburg won in the 174 pound class, fellow captain Dillion Charlton [185] picked up Waynesburg’s second win, 7-3. 

Headlee is counting on Mackall and Charlton to set the tone for their teammates. 

“We want them to step up and be the leaders, not only on the mat but in the [wrestling] room also,” he said. “So we’ve talked to them about their roles there. [Wednesday] night I thought they both responded well.”

Waynesburg also received encouraging results from its senior class, and although freshmen Rocky McGeary and Colby Morris fell in their matches, they showed encouragement against Shippensburg’s big guns. 

Morris fell to former Iowa Hawkeye Pat Duggan, and McGeary lost to the fifth-ranked heavyweight in D-II, Derek Berberick. Both rookies took their matches the whole seven minutes. 

McGeary, in particular, has an intriguing story. The West Allegheny product is filling the shoes of arguably the best to ever lace up a pair of boots for Waynesburg in Jake Evans. For Headlee, however, not only is McGeary holding his own in the heavyweight division, there are some facets where he might be even better than Evans was as a rookie. 

“His technique might be further along [than] we think Jake’s was when he was a freshman,” Headlee said. “I think he works at it. He comes in, he studies film, he wants to get better. So I like his desire.”

Despite a lukewarm 1-2 start, Headlee isn’t discouraged by how his squad has performed thus far. The 12th year coach breaks down his season into semesters. When the Spring term rolls around, he’s confident the Jackets will start to hit their stride. 

“I think we have a nice young team,” he said. “[We don’t have] everybody in the right weight classes yet. Once we get that, I think we’ll be better. Second semester, we’ll get settled in. First semester, I like to use that [for] learning tools and find out what our teams need to work on and what we have to get better at.”