Garnet Valley beats numbers issue, Marple Newtown
CONCORD — There are elements of Garnet Valley wrestling that remain unchanged. The garnet-hued GV still looks sharp on the black uniform. Head coach Rocco Fantazi is still the same calming presence mat-side. And a Marino, sophomore Matt, who follows brothers Mike and Joseph, still battles in the middleweight classes.
But the dominance that defined the 2014 Central League champions comes and goes.
“It’s been up and down,’ Fantazi said of his Jaguars. “Up and down in practice, up and down in matches.’
Thursday night’s home victory over Marple Newtown offered a peek into that inconsistency. The Jags won 52-24, but there were nervous moments. The Tigers trailed by just seven with four bouts remaining.
“We’re struggling a lot to progress and develop to where we should be,’ said Fantazi, who earned win number 151. “A lot of these guys were on the championship team, but they had the support of a lot of leaders.’
One glance at the roster suggests as much. Pat Rowe was the lone senior, and one of three on Garnet Valley’s roster, to wrestle Thursday night. He pushed his record to an impressive 20-3 with a 15-0, technical fall of Derek Dervishian at 152 pounds.
“It’s been hard. It’s a group of young guys,’ Rowe said. “We knew it was going to be tough coming in. We lost half the team.’
Some of the vacancies have yet to be filled. The Jaguars forfeited the 113 match as well as the bout at 285. The shorthanded lineup puts pressure on those who do wrestle to perform.
“Pretty much everyone has to get bonus points,’ said junior Mark Peters, who delivered a stellar pin of Niko Akranis at 182. Peters jumped the Tigers’ standout 10 seconds into the second period from the bottom position. “I usually just try to get an escape. I just went with it.’
His pin made it 22-6, a lead Marple chipped at but only briefly threatened. Garnet Valley already has one more loss in the league, a 36-35 result against Ridley, than it did a year ago. That’s more than enough motivation for Rowe.
“The loss at Ridley really woke us up,’ he said. “We’re a different team now.’
Fantazi appeared more skeptical than his captain. He saw a defeat coming.
“The writing was on the wall,’ Fantazi said. “We had it coming to us.’
A win over Haverford was a nice bounce-back, as was the victory against the Tigers. But the coming weeks – particularly meetings with Upper Darby and Conestoga — will demonstrate what kind of team the Jaguars (7-4, 6-1 Central League) are.
“It’s a long, grueling season,’ Fantazi said. “If you have a full lineup and some experience, you can compete with anybody. We have a little bit of neither.’
Marple (8-8, 2-5) is in a similar boat, albeit one with much more modest expectations. First-year head coach Steve Resnick was as giddy after the loss as his counterpart was glum.
“I was new to it, they were new it,’ Resnick said. “We’re sort of growing together.’
Resnick singled out performances by freshman Anass Elfernani at 106 and Eric Hulsey at 170 as signs of improvement.
“Hulsey won his first varsity match. Anass wrestled tough,’ Resnick said. “Now the guys can keep it going.’
Elsewhere in the Central League:
Strath Haven 46, Radnor 26: The Panthers (12-9, 4-3) continued their strong 2014-15 season with a road victory over Radnor. Mike Dougherty’s 16-1 technical fall over Aidan Klupar at 160 capped a run that saw Strath Haven take six of seven matches. Devon Moore (132) contributed a tech. fall, while Tommy Zeigler (113), Brett Burns (138), and Matthew Splain (152) pinned their opponents. Tom Meyers remained the standout for the Raiders (3-15, 1-6). He improved his unbeaten record to 27-0.
Springfield 38, Ridley 33: It was a shock win that came down to the final match. With his Cougars trailing 33-32, Jack Horan pinned Leo Teti-Cassidy at 4:55 of their 285-pound bout. The Green Raiders (9-8, 4-3) needed a late rally to even grab their lead. Larence Alkins (182), Xavier Norman (195), and Dennis Kennedy (220) strung together three straight wins to put the hosts in front.
But Horan’s heroics ended hopes of a win. David Bagirov (113), Tyler Forbes (126), and Mike Psenicska (138) also pinned opponents for Springfield (8-14, 2-5).
In District One AAA Duals:
Spring-Ford 51, Haverford High 6: The upstart Fords ran into a vaunted opponent and bowed out of the district duals of Class AAA in the first round. The Rams won 12 of 14 matches, three by pin, three by tech. fall, and six by decision. Noah Strehse (132) and Matt Bloxton (170) were the only two wrestlers to earn points for Haverford (12-4). Strehse defeated Jonathan Westlake, 4-2 and Bloxton bested Steve Rice, 7-4.
Downingtown East 28, Upper Darby 27: A tiebreaker cost the Royals a trip to the second round of the District One AAA Duals. The Cougars advanced because they scored more first points in the meet. Peter Augustin (285) did all he could to give Upper Darby (13-4) a chance. He won a 7-4 decision over Owen Morris to tie the score at 27-27. By the slimmest of margins, it wasn’t enough. Josh Yeboah (220) was tested, but remained unbeaten on the season at 15-0. He beat Billy McGinley 6-5. The Royals will now turn their attention to reclaiming the Central League, where they are a perfect 6-0 thus far.
