|
|
|
"United We Stand............Divided We Fall"
The team entered the Chaminade ACC with a bad taste in their
mouths. It may have been the cold weather, the feeling of holding
their weight, nervousness before a match, or simply the fact that the
Flyers had handed us a defeat each of the last 6 years. However the
cliche of "Not this Year" kept ringing in the ear of every wrestler.
While the Freshman and JV teams filled the bleachers, the Varsity team
began to get focused. When you looked around you didn't see laughter,
cell phones, someone joking with a friend before a match, what you saw
was focus and determination on every wrestler's face. However the most
important thing that was on the bench was something you did not
see......a group of individuals. There were no individuals that day,
all you saw was a TEAM. A TEAM that was angry, a TEAM that was
frustrated, a TEAM that would refuse to leave that gym empty handed.
From the first match of the dual, Senior Captain Colin Pryor (171 lbs)
set the tone with a dominating performance that earned him a technical
fall, scoring the final 2 points at the very end of the
match. We would drop a decision and get pinned in the
following 2 matches. The Chaminade crowd felt the momentum swing into
their favor and they were not afraid to let us know. However the TEAM
welcomed the challenge and could only fight back the smirk, as it was
time, to unleash hell. Senior Captain Nick Auriemma (285 lbs) stepped
onto the mat with authority, scoring a takedown in the opening 10
seconds of the match. The TEAM erupted, chanting "Auriemma, Auriemma."
Nick would not disappoint, securing the pin in the first period and
putting the TEAM ahead 11-9, a lead that would not be surrendered again
that dual meet. The light weights took over from there with Junior
Chris Brienza (96 bs) and Sophomore Jimmy Morris (103 lbs) each
dominating their opponents by pinning them in the first period.
Auriemma, Brienza, and Morris opened up a 23-9 lead by finishing off
their counterparts in a combined time of 4:21. Sophmore Grant Greene
(112 lbs) would follow suit with a major decision, bringing the lead up to
27-9. The TEAM would lose a little steam when the lineup had to be
maneuvered so we would not forfeit more than 1 weight class, due to
injuries and lack of wrestlers. The TEAM only won 1 of the next 5
matches (a decision, 2 pins and the aforementioned forfeit) enabling
the Flyers to even the score at 30 all. With only 3 weight classes
left the TEAM would refuse to let this slip away. Junior Brandon
Meisner would ease the pressure on his final two TEAMmates when he
brought the crowd to its feet just 13 seconds into the third period,
securing the fall and putting the Friars up 36-30. Next up at 152 lbs
was Senior Ricky Randazzo (96 career wins), a wrestler who has been a
part of past teams more than capable of defeating Chaminade, but always
coming up short. Randazzo rode an 11-5 lead into the third period,
with the intensity of the TEAM increasing with each second. Needing
only a decision to secure the match for his TEAM, Randazzo was not
satisfied with "settling" for a decision. Only 20 seconds into the
third period he forced his opponent to "count the lights" in the
Chaminade wrestling room, securing the fall.....and the match. The
TEAM erupted, every wrestler was glued to the match, every wrestler was
making his voice heard, every wrestler wrestled not for himself but for
his TEAM. A fist pump at the conclusion of the match by Randazzo only
increased the intense cheering of the TEAM eagerly awaiting his return
to the bench, however the TEAM was not done yet. Many times after a
big dual meet has been mathematically won, you see benches go flat in
the final match or matches. But this was a different night, on this
night the TEAM would carry the intense support they had the entire dual
meet throughout that final match. Unfortunately Freshman Derek White
(160 lbs) dropped a tough 7-4 decision, finalizing the score at 42-33,
in favor of the Friars. The TEAM responded after being challenged by
the coaching staff, both physically and mentally, to unite as a TEAM
instead of being divided as a group of individuals. The question
remains if the TEAM will be greedy for more or will individuals be
greedy....St. Anthony's 42, Chaminade 33 96 - Chris Brienza (SA) pinned Bobby Wallace (Cha), 1:30
103 - Jimmy Morris (SA) pinned Pat Monahan (Cha), 1:23
112 - Grant Greene (SA) major dec. Jon Faglione (Cha), 11-2
119 - Ryan Neugebauer (Cha) dec. Tom Penza (SA), 8-5
125 - Troy Sampson (Cha) pinned Phil Bizzaro (SA), 2:43
130 - Brandon Ayala (SA) dec. Matt Sagan (Cha), 11-10
135 - Evan Doherty (Cha) pinned Paul Kelly (SA), 1:22
140 - Tim Gilbert (Cha) by FFT
145 - Brandon Meisner (SA) pinned Dan Gehrig (Cha), 4:13
152 - Ricky Randazzo (SA) pinned Paul Gentile (Cha), 4:20
160 - Sal Rizzo (Cha) dec. Derek White (SA), 7-4
171 - Colin Pryor (SA) TF Andrew deLannoy (Cha), 6:00
189 - Alex Erickson (Cha) dec. Rob Sweitzer (SA), 7-1
215 - Brendan Fowler (Cha) pinned Anthony LaCalamita (SA), 2:40
285 - Nick Auriemma (SA) pinned Stephen Kasier (Cha), 1:28
| |
|