WESTERN NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The wrestling season is over, but Jamison Sacco of Western New England College continues to receive awards.

Sacco, a native of Syracuse, New York, recently was named to the d3wrestling.com All-Freshman Team in the 285-lb. division.

Sacco enjoyed a tremendous season for the Golden Bears compiling a 25-3 record with 19 pins while capturing his weight class at the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Championship, which was held on the WNEC campus. 

At the NEWA Championship, Sacco pinned four opponents in a combined 2 minutes, 50 seconds, and received the award for the Fastest Fall (14 seconds). He also was named the NEWA Rookie-of-the-Year.

Although he dropped both his matches at the NCAA Division III Championship, Sacco's performance on the wrestling mat during the season drew considerable praise from coaches throughout the region.

Sacco, a Sport Management major, took time-out during his spring break vacation to reflect on his sensational season.

Q. Talk a little about your first season competing at the College.

A. My first season at Western New England College was a lot of fun. I had to work hard and was very committed to wrestling this year. Wrestling takes up a lot of time so for my first season it wasn't the easiest to manage my time the best.

Q. Did you feel like you would do this well your rookie season?

A. I was hoping that I would have a successful year. The summer before I came to school I did a lot of working out and getting myself in shape for the season. It was also helpful my my coach (Anibal Nieves) was very supportive and right from the first day he met me thought I could make it to nationals in my freshman year.

Q. What were your goals competing in both the NEWA and NCAA Championships?

A. My goal for the NEWA Championship was to win the tournament in as fast of a time that I could. I wanted to qualify for the national tournament and I was able to do it. I was hoping to make All-American, but just didn't have a good tournament and lost both my matches.

Q. Now that you've had a taste of national competition, what areas do you feel you need improvement?

A. I need to improve on changing my style a little bit so that I'm not as predictable to everyone. I also need to work on getting in better shape and a lot stronger.

Q. Talk a little about the future of the Western New England College wrestling program.

A. The WNEC wrestling program is up and coming. We have a very young team and in the next couple of years we will get a lot of experience ad will compete for the New England title. We're getting some good young kids into the program who help us help be the best team we can be.