KENNETT SQUARE – Unionville against Kennett in any sport is a rivalry. Perhaps no more so than when the two wrestling teams go at it, if only for the sheer fact that the athletes spend their formative years of youth wrestling competing for the same club as teammates.
“My own son wrestles for Kennett Youth,’ said Unionville head coach Chris Matz. “It’s strange to come here and see all his coaches wearing the other team’s colors, and for at least one night, we’re opponents. But once this is over, we’re back to working together.’
Matz’ Indians had little trouble picking up the 53-18 win on Wednesday night, getting pins from Mike Caldwell (160), Tyler Crossman (170), Jack Baccelierri (220), Jake Taylor (106), Ian Larson (138) and Joey DiMarco (145), along with an 11-2 major decision from Bobby Murray at 113.
Unionville also got a nice win by decision at 126. After giving up the first takedown to Kennett’s Jacob Eberle, Mitchell Camp wriggled free for an escape, then took a shot near the edge. The Indian gained control for the lead, then went out of bounds. Though Eberle picked up a reversal in the period, Camp scored one of his own in the third for the 5-4 victory.
“I knew I had to get a shot off there,’ said Camp. “I figured that was going to be a turning point in the match, so I just wanted to get off the shot and score there. I’m happy with the win, and really happy with the way we’re wrestling as a team.’
Matz was pleased with the way Camp wrestled as well.
“Mitch wrestled a nice match,’ said Matz. “We told him that Eberle was going to battle, and he did. Kennett has a couple of tough young kids there in the line-up.’
Preceding the Camp bout was a dandy of a match between Will McNew and Kennett freshman Drew Massetti. Will came out like gangbusters, working a mixer to put Maessetti on his back just seconds into the match. Undaunted, Massetti slowly worked his way off his back and avoided the pin. But even with the subsequent escape, Massetti was still down 5-0.
Working from bottom to start the second, Massetti got loose for one, then hit a double leg for the takedown, cutting the margin to 5-4 in the process. Once on top, Massetti tossed in a half, and drove McNew over for the fall in 2:55.
“That is one we’ll be talking about in the room tomorrow,’ said Kennett coach Tyrone Johnson. “That is why you need to learn to fight off your back. Drew showed a lot of maturity and composure for a freshman. He just went about his business, first getting off his back, then chipping at the lead, then putting it away. I couldn’t be more proud.’
The marquee match up came at 285, where two of the county’s top big guys went at it in Kennett’s Cory Tomasetti and Unionville’s Will Hart. Tied 3-3 to start the third, Tomasetti chose down, but Hart opted to cut him loose for one, hoping to pick up the win with a takedown. With time running down, Hart took a shot, but Tomasettit sprawled and spun behind for two and a 6-3 victory.
“I’m pretty familiar with the way Hart wrestles,’ said Tomesetti. “I knew he likes to go upper body a lot, especially the lat drop, so I had to be prepared for that. There’s a lot of good guys around here at 285, so I’ve always got to work hard and be prepared to battle.’
Johnson says that heavyweight is deep in talent, and will make for an interesting post season.
“There’s so many good heavies, in our league and in our district,’ said Johnson. “It’s going to be a weight that’s really hard to predict who finishes where, and those finishes might change from week to week as they move on.’
