Summer 2004

• Starting Point
• Features
• Campus Buzz
  • Jupiter Aligns with Mars
  • Curran Lays Down Baton After 38 Years
  • WPI Students Again Recognized for Scholarship
  • Notes from the Playing Fields
  • Ljungquist Edits Newly Discovered Poe Letters
  • WPI's 136th Commencement
  • As an Artist, J. D. Sage Has Time on His Side
  • The Freshmen Are Coming
• A Few Words
• Investigations
• Inside WPI
• Explorations
• Alumni Connections
• ...And Life
• Letters to the Editor

• Feedback
• Issues Index
• Staff
• Related Sites
  • The Bridge (E-newsletter)
  • Alumni Calendar
  • E-cards
  • Alumni Homepage

CampusBuzz

Notes from the Playing Fields

Grebinar Hits the Big Four-Oh-Oh

During the 32 years he has coached wrestlers at WPI, Phil Grebinar has won just about every honor available to a coach in his field. To name just a few, he's been NECCWA (New England College Confer-ence Wrestling Association) Coach of the Year three times and inducted into four halls of fame, including WPI's. But on January 25, he hit a new milestone that few NCAA coaches see--a 400th career victory.

During the NECCWA Dual Team Tournament at Bridgewater State, "Grebby's Grapplers" notched wins 399, 400, and 401 with victories over Roger Williams College, Coast Guard, and Trinity. Over the years, Grebinar's teams have won about 70 percent of their matches and gone to four NECCWA championships (1985, 1987, 1994, and 1995). He's coached 183 All-New England wrestlers, 46 who have competed in the NCAA National Championship Tournament, and eight who've earned All-America status.

Women's Crew: No. 2

It was a Cinderella year for the women's crew team. The only thing lacking was a trip to the ball. As the end-of-year cham-pionships approached, the team was ranked No. 4 in the nation in the Division III coaches poll--the highest ranking ever for women's crew, a varsity sport at WPI only since 2000. After two big championship finishes, it looked like the next step would be an invitation to the NCAA national rowing championships in California, but the phone call never came.

In Division III women's rowing, schools chosen for the finals need to have two strong varsity boats. While both of WPI's varsity eights are good, only one was exceptional throughout the year. That group of rowers came in third at the NECs (the best finish ever in that event) and second at the ECACs. They also consistently defeated four of the six teams invited to row in the nationals. The WPI team continued to amaze right up to the end of the year. In the final Division III coaches poll of the year, WPI placed second in the nation.

transformations@wpi.edu
Maintained by: webmaster@wpi.edu
Last modified: Sep 13, 2004, 11:48 EDT