Tiger Wrestlers Beat South City- Varsity Remains Undefeated

Terra Nova dominated South City Thursday night in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd of spectators that included many the Tiger's top wrestling alumni. Former Tigers from the last 30 years, such as David Loobey, Dave Moore, Marina Piccolotti, Red Sanders, and many more came out to cheer the team to victory.

Terra Nova's JV carried their team competition with a score of 36-6, all contested matches were decided by pins. Josh Caracter – 172lb pinned his opponent in the first minute of the first round. Tsubasa Borissoff – 182lbs reversed his opponent from referee's position, off the whistle to pin him in the opening seconds of the second round. Mallory Moore – 126lbs did not have an opponent in her weight class during the girls' matches, so she wrestled for the JV and pinned her male opponent at the beginning of the second round.

There were only 2 girls' matches despite the fact that both South City and Terra Nova have excellent girls' teams. Unfortunately, the athletes didn't match up by weight class for most of the contests. The Tigers' Yvonne Yip – 131lbs, pinned her opponent in the second round, contributing to the 42-22 Terra Nova team win.

The Varsity competition began with pin in a match dominated by Chase Edgington- 138lbs. The next round was a rematch between South City's Nicholls and Terra Nova's Ryan McGannon. Nicholls had narrowly defeated McGannon at MidCals earlier in the season, scoring almost all of his points against McGannon on penalties for illegal clasping holds. Thursday's match was tied at the end of 3 rounds and went into sudden death overtime, where the first take down wins. Before either wrestler could score a takedown, Nicholls put McGannon in a dangerous and illegal figure 4 leg lock around the neck. McGannon was awarded a point on penalty and thus won the match. While nobody wants to win on a penalty, the referees have to enforce the rules that ensure the athletes' safety.

Terra Nova went on to beat South City with a team score of 49-19. In team competition, a pin and a forfeit are both worth 6 points. Beating your opponent by 15 points (a tech) is worth 5. Winning by 8 or more points is a Major Decision, worth 4 team points, and wins of fewer than 8 are Minor Decisions worth 3 points. Pins by Josh Bradshaw -220lbs, Adam Noce, -285lbs, and Patrick Palomata -120lbs contributed to the Tigers' high score. Freshman, Sam Nelson defeated SSF's Salem in a major decision, 14-3, and senior, Iakona Simpliciano defeated the Warriors' Dabit 10-1, also a major decision.

Terra Nova's varsity remains undefeated in dual meets this year, and are well on their way to defending last year's PAL team dual meet title. The Tigers face Capuchino this Thursday on the road in hope of continuing their winning streak.