On February 24, 2007, 10 members of the Rensselaer Club Wrestling Team qualified for nationals by placing fourth at the NCWA NE Conference Championships held at RPI in the Armory. Standouts include senior Rob Venditti, who finished first in his weight class, and freshmen Ryan Michaels and junior John Steciuk who placed second in their respected classes.
Throughout the season they were hailed as the New York State Champions, lead by coach John Jenkins, Jr. Their co-captain and president Venditti consistently ranked as number one in the country for the season, which means that he perpetually accumulated the most points over the season. He was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler for the Northeast Conference, while Jenkins was named Coach of the Year for the Northeast Conference.
One highlight on the season included a first place finish at the RPI Redhawk Rumple Open in November with a team score of 79 points. Second place finishes in their classes were Steciuk, Eric Pace ’07, and Dwight Manganaro ’09. Adam Bruce ’11, Devin Bishop ’08, and David Cardella ’09 all placed third in their weight classes, while Venditti took home the crown for his class.
Over the break from March 8–10, Bishop 125, Bruce 125, Joe Crispino 165, junior Matt Gineo 141, Manganaro 285, Michaels 149, Pace 197, Steciuk 165, sophomore co-captain Pat Vamosy 197, and Venditti flew to Dallas, Texas to compete in the NCWA National Championships. At Nationals the team performed well, peaking in the rankings at number two, but finishing fifteenth among 67 teams competing.
Out of the ten RPI student athletes to go to Nationals, two came out as All-Americans; Michaels was third and Venditti was sixth.
