Jan. 26, 2007 High School Blog
Nazareth takes Round 1, 30-28, over Easton
By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. Editor
Nazareth (Pa.) High won’t have much time to enjoy this one.
In the Wednesday night match of this week, the Blue Eagles (14-1 overall) got a clutch pin from senior state runner-up David Crowell (189) and a clinching win from Jim Mutch (285) to close out a 30-28 thriller over Easton (Pa.) High before a capacity crowd of 1,400 at Nazareth.
After losing his first four matches to Easton, Nazareth coach Dave Crowell now has won three straight – the first time the Red Rovers (11-2) have lost three straight in the series in a decade. The two teams likely will meet again in 10 days – in the District 11-AAA duals at Bethlehem Liberty High.
Easton, which once led 25-7, forfeited to nationally-ranked Thad Frick at 171, narrowing Nazareth’s deficit to 25-21, and bumped Joe Piro up a weight to 189. Crowell foiled the strategy with a second-period pin, giving the Eagles their first lead of the match, 27-25.
Also up a weight at 215, Easton’s Cory Rutt managed just a 7-1 decision over Tim Murphy, making it 28-27 and setting the stage for a winner-take-all heavyweight bout. Mutch got the job done with a 4-1 victory over Chris Wilson, sealing the win with a third-period takedown.
Easton's lightweights predictably staked the Red Rovers to a big early lead. After Desmond Moore (103), Kegan Handlovic (112), state champion Jordan Oliver (119) and Mark Hartenstine (125) opened with consecutive major decisions for a 16-0 lead, the Rovers picked up a huge bonus at 130 as Juju Drummond stunned nationally-ranked Bobby Ward 1-0, making it 19-0.
Mike Greck (135) got a major decision and Andrew Ritchie (140) also won, but Colin Dailey (145) got Easton’s only pin of the night and it was 25-7. Adam Counterman (152) and Penn State recruit Tim Darling (160), each bumped up a weight, each responded with major decisions to start the Blue Eagles comeback, making it 25-15.
OW Graff impressive at Top of the Rockies meet
Junior National freestyle runner-up Tyler Graff of Loveland (Colo.) High was voted the Outstanding Wrestler after winning the 130-pound weight class in one of Colorado’s most prestigious tournaments, the Top of the Rockies meet at Lafayette Centaurus High.
Graff pounded Max Ortega of Rio Rancho (N.M.) High 17-3 in the finals, a battle of junior two-time state champions.
A third two-time state champion, senior Eric Harris of Green River (Wyo.) High, lost to Richard Apodaca of Denver Arrupe Jesuit High, 7-4, in the third-place match.
Oddly, it was the second time Graff has beaten Ortega by the same score this season. The first time came last month at the University of Northern Colorado Invitational in December.
Despite Max Ortega’s loss, Rio Rancho edged Colorado’s top Class 5A team, Parker Ponderosa High, 179-168.5 for the team title. Three-time state champions Matt Ortega (125) and Vicente Varela (135) won titles for Rio Rancho and Louis Trujillo (119) and Victor Sanchez (152) finished third.
Matt Ortega, who is committed to Indiana, racked up a 19-9 major decision over senior state placewinner James Rowell of Loveland Thompson Valley High. Varela, who will attend Arizona State, beat sophomore state place-winner Justin Gonzales of Greeley Northridge High, 12-5.
Three of Colorado’s other elite teams rounded out the top five. Broomfield High, ranked No. 2 in Class 4A, edged top-ranked Alamosa High, 154.5-146.5, for third place and Class 3A kingpin Johnstown Roosevelt High (136) was fifth.
Minnesota recruit Sonny Yohn (189) of Alamosa, a two-time state champion, beat the top 5A wrestler, senior state runnerup Nick Bauman of Broomfield Legacy High, easily, 13-3. It was Bauman’s first official loss this season. Brother Cody Yohn (160) and Jesse Meis (103), both juniors, also won.
Broomfield High’s David Marone, the Walsh Ironman runnerup at 189 in December, scored a takedown with 13 seconds remaining to break a 1-1 tie and beat Green River’s Skip Crooks for the second consecutive year in the 215-pound final. It was considerably closer than last year’s final, which Marone won 10-1. Marone will be at 215 for the rest of the season. Crooks, who pinned his way to the Reno (Nev.) Tournament of Champions crown, lost for the first time this season.
Broomfield’s Cory Casady (140), up four weight classes from last year, continued to show why he’s in the national rankings discussion anyhow, pinning Arrupe Jesuit state champion Lance Gallegos in the final after finishing eighth in the Ironman.
Double Cadet National place-winner Josh Kreimier also won for Loveland, beating Ponderosa’s Steven Kelly 12-6 for the 112-pound title. Ponderosa’s Jesse Snider (145) and state champion Marcus Felker (285) of Thornton High, who has committed to a Wyoming football scholarship, also won.
Molinaro, Lanno weight drops not enough for Southern
The highlight of New Jersey wrestling last weekend was an outstanding quad meet at Manahawkin Southern Regional High.
The meet featured three of the state’s top teams – defending Group 3 dual champion South Plainfield High, six-time defending Group 2 dual champion Newton Kittatinny High and host Southern.
And it was South Plainfield that came out on top, outlasting Kittatinny, 32-21, then beating Southern, 33-27.
In between, Southern held off Kittatinny, 34-31.
The meets, which started at 130, featured one run after another by the three teams. After Brian Bollette gave Kittatinny (14-4) a 3-0 lead with a 4-3 decision over Bryan Hunt, 2005 state runnerup Billy Ashnault won a 3-0 decision to ignite a six-match South Plainfield run, capped by Dan Pompilio’s pin at 171, for a 21-3 Tigers lead.
With two-time state place-winner Tommy Spellman (189) winning by forfeit, Kittatinny came back with three straight wins to make it 21-15 – only to see South Plainfield win three straight to ice it.
The meet unveiled the new weights of Southern’s two middle-weight stars, Penn State recruit Frank Molinaro and Beast of the East champion Luke Lanno, down a weight to 140 and 145, respectively. Molinaro’s pin and Lanno’s major decision helped Southern erase a 3-0 deficit and after Spellman pinned Ed Broderick at 171, Josh Cipolla (189) had a technical fall and Mike Thomas (215) and Glenn Carson (285) added pins to stake Southern (9-2) to a 30-12 cushion.
The main event saw South Plainfield’s lower weights outdo Southern’s middle and upper weights as the match ended in a 7-7 split. South Plainfield swept the first six weights – and the final five bouts of the match – to overcome the spark provided by Molinaro and Lanno.
Hunt and Ashnault started the match with a pair of huge wins, Hunt beating Nick Maugeri 4-2 at 130 and Ashanult nipping Nick Maugeri 1-0 at 135 to give South Plainfield a 6-0 lead. Molinaro and Lanno then answered, neutralizing a pair of state qualifiers. Molinaro beatNick Dorey 8-2 and Lanno added a 10-2 major decision over Mike Jakubik for a 7-3 lead. The victories capped a string of seven Southern victories in eight matches that gave the hosts a 27-12 lead.
But South Plainfield (12-4) engineered a four-match sweep to end it. Nick Heilman (103), state place-winner Patrick Hunter (112) and Nicky Pauls (125) highlighted the run with pins.
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By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. Editor
Nazareth (Pa.) High won’t have much time to enjoy this one.
In the Wednesday night match of this week, the Blue Eagles (14-1 overall) got a clutch pin from senior state runner-up David Crowell (189) and a clinching win from Jim Mutch (285) to close out a 30-28 thriller over Easton (Pa.) High before a capacity crowd of 1,400 at Nazareth.
After losing his first four matches to Easton, Nazareth coach Dave Crowell now has won three straight – the first time the Red Rovers (11-2) have lost three straight in the series in a decade. The two teams likely will meet again in 10 days – in the District 11-AAA duals at Bethlehem Liberty High.
Easton, which once led 25-7, forfeited to nationally-ranked Thad Frick at 171, narrowing Nazareth’s deficit to 25-21, and bumped Joe Piro up a weight to 189. Crowell foiled the strategy with a second-period pin, giving the Eagles their first lead of the match, 27-25.
Also up a weight at 215, Easton’s Cory Rutt managed just a 7-1 decision over Tim Murphy, making it 28-27 and setting the stage for a winner-take-all heavyweight bout. Mutch got the job done with a 4-1 victory over Chris Wilson, sealing the win with a third-period takedown.
Easton's lightweights predictably staked the Red Rovers to a big early lead. After Desmond Moore (103), Kegan Handlovic (112), state champion Jordan Oliver (119) and Mark Hartenstine (125) opened with consecutive major decisions for a 16-0 lead, the Rovers picked up a huge bonus at 130 as Juju Drummond stunned nationally-ranked Bobby Ward 1-0, making it 19-0.
Mike Greck (135) got a major decision and Andrew Ritchie (140) also won, but Colin Dailey (145) got Easton’s only pin of the night and it was 25-7. Adam Counterman (152) and Penn State recruit Tim Darling (160), each bumped up a weight, each responded with major decisions to start the Blue Eagles comeback, making it 25-15.
OW Graff impressive at Top of the Rockies meet
Junior National freestyle runner-up Tyler Graff of Loveland (Colo.) High was voted the Outstanding Wrestler after winning the 130-pound weight class in one of Colorado’s most prestigious tournaments, the Top of the Rockies meet at Lafayette Centaurus High.
Graff pounded Max Ortega of Rio Rancho (N.M.) High 17-3 in the finals, a battle of junior two-time state champions.
A third two-time state champion, senior Eric Harris of Green River (Wyo.) High, lost to Richard Apodaca of Denver Arrupe Jesuit High, 7-4, in the third-place match.
Oddly, it was the second time Graff has beaten Ortega by the same score this season. The first time came last month at the University of Northern Colorado Invitational in December.
Despite Max Ortega’s loss, Rio Rancho edged Colorado’s top Class 5A team, Parker Ponderosa High, 179-168.5 for the team title. Three-time state champions Matt Ortega (125) and Vicente Varela (135) won titles for Rio Rancho and Louis Trujillo (119) and Victor Sanchez (152) finished third.
Matt Ortega, who is committed to Indiana, racked up a 19-9 major decision over senior state placewinner James Rowell of Loveland Thompson Valley High. Varela, who will attend Arizona State, beat sophomore state place-winner Justin Gonzales of Greeley Northridge High, 12-5.
Three of Colorado’s other elite teams rounded out the top five. Broomfield High, ranked No. 2 in Class 4A, edged top-ranked Alamosa High, 154.5-146.5, for third place and Class 3A kingpin Johnstown Roosevelt High (136) was fifth.
Minnesota recruit Sonny Yohn (189) of Alamosa, a two-time state champion, beat the top 5A wrestler, senior state runnerup Nick Bauman of Broomfield Legacy High, easily, 13-3. It was Bauman’s first official loss this season. Brother Cody Yohn (160) and Jesse Meis (103), both juniors, also won.
Broomfield High’s David Marone, the Walsh Ironman runnerup at 189 in December, scored a takedown with 13 seconds remaining to break a 1-1 tie and beat Green River’s Skip Crooks for the second consecutive year in the 215-pound final. It was considerably closer than last year’s final, which Marone won 10-1. Marone will be at 215 for the rest of the season. Crooks, who pinned his way to the Reno (Nev.) Tournament of Champions crown, lost for the first time this season.
Broomfield’s Cory Casady (140), up four weight classes from last year, continued to show why he’s in the national rankings discussion anyhow, pinning Arrupe Jesuit state champion Lance Gallegos in the final after finishing eighth in the Ironman.
Double Cadet National place-winner Josh Kreimier also won for Loveland, beating Ponderosa’s Steven Kelly 12-6 for the 112-pound title. Ponderosa’s Jesse Snider (145) and state champion Marcus Felker (285) of Thornton High, who has committed to a Wyoming football scholarship, also won.
Molinaro, Lanno weight drops not enough for Southern
The highlight of New Jersey wrestling last weekend was an outstanding quad meet at Manahawkin Southern Regional High.
The meet featured three of the state’s top teams – defending Group 3 dual champion South Plainfield High, six-time defending Group 2 dual champion Newton Kittatinny High and host Southern.
And it was South Plainfield that came out on top, outlasting Kittatinny, 32-21, then beating Southern, 33-27.
In between, Southern held off Kittatinny, 34-31.
The meets, which started at 130, featured one run after another by the three teams. After Brian Bollette gave Kittatinny (14-4) a 3-0 lead with a 4-3 decision over Bryan Hunt, 2005 state runnerup Billy Ashnault won a 3-0 decision to ignite a six-match South Plainfield run, capped by Dan Pompilio’s pin at 171, for a 21-3 Tigers lead.
With two-time state place-winner Tommy Spellman (189) winning by forfeit, Kittatinny came back with three straight wins to make it 21-15 – only to see South Plainfield win three straight to ice it.
The meet unveiled the new weights of Southern’s two middle-weight stars, Penn State recruit Frank Molinaro and Beast of the East champion Luke Lanno, down a weight to 140 and 145, respectively. Molinaro’s pin and Lanno’s major decision helped Southern erase a 3-0 deficit and after Spellman pinned Ed Broderick at 171, Josh Cipolla (189) had a technical fall and Mike Thomas (215) and Glenn Carson (285) added pins to stake Southern (9-2) to a 30-12 cushion.
The main event saw South Plainfield’s lower weights outdo Southern’s middle and upper weights as the match ended in a 7-7 split. South Plainfield swept the first six weights – and the final five bouts of the match – to overcome the spark provided by Molinaro and Lanno.
Hunt and Ashnault started the match with a pair of huge wins, Hunt beating Nick Maugeri 4-2 at 130 and Ashanult nipping Nick Maugeri 1-0 at 135 to give South Plainfield a 6-0 lead. Molinaro and Lanno then answered, neutralizing a pair of state qualifiers. Molinaro beatNick Dorey 8-2 and Lanno added a 10-2 major decision over Mike Jakubik for a 7-3 lead. The victories capped a string of seven Southern victories in eight matches that gave the hosts a 27-12 lead.
But South Plainfield (12-4) engineered a four-match sweep to end it. Nick Heilman (103), state place-winner Patrick Hunter (112) and Nicky Pauls (125) highlighted the run with pins.
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