Amidst a season with expectations lowered by wrestlers quitting, untimely injuries and a bunch of inexperience, it’s quite amazing that the Cougar wrestling squad is knocking at the door of a 16-win season.
On Friday night at Columbia High School, the Cougars won their third match of the week, 44-30 over Cedar Grove, locking up third place in the Super Essex Liberty Division, while improving to 15-6 on Senior Night.
It was fitting that two of the three Columbia seniors who competed on Friday (Jesse Krasner was out with an injury), won by pin and set the tone for the Cougars, who won the dual meet because of five pins.
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“It was a good performance. We should wind up 16-6, which dual meet record wise is one of the best seasons in school history,” said Columbia head coach Harold Garwin.
Senior co-captain, Andrew Adams (125), picked up his 95th career win, pinning Dan Bennett at 2:34. Adams scored 10 points in the first round, behind a double leg takedown and eight back points. After Bennett spent the entire first round fighting off Adams, he fought from the top position in the second period. Adams quickly reversed the position and then applied the pin to get Columbia on the board.
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“I was pretty proud to go out with a team win and a nice individual win,” Adams said. “It was a nice way to finish off the final home match of the season.”
Alex Lopez (130), also a senior co-captain, tied the score at 12 all, following a second round pin over Nick Rooney. In the second round he escaped from the down position to take a 3-0 lead, and then immediately brought Rooney to the mat with a double leg takedown. Shortly after, Rooney could no longer hold off Lopez for the pin.
But because the Cougars forfeited three of the first five matches, the Panthers were actually out to an 18-12 lead heading into the 140 pound match. Cedar Grove’s Ryan Fearon broke a 2-2 tie in the third round, using the top position to spin Columbia’s Steven Edmunds to his back, forcing the pin with 1:26 left. The match had been relatively even up till that point, with each registering just one takedown and no escapes.
“We understand who’s on their team and they have some nice wrestlers,” said Cedar Grove head coach Bob Brady. “I’m not upset with the way my team wrestle. I thought we showed some guts tonight. The younger kids are still working on s0me techniques.”
After the pin, Cedar Grove was up by 12, but Columbia took over from there. The Cougars won five of the final seven matches, to hold off Cedar Grove.
At 145, Obinna Nwanonyuri got the run started, simply overpowering Cedar Grove’s Mike Botte. Nwanonyuri pretty much got takedowns at will, with three through the first two periods. But to his credit, Botte did a great job of fighting off of his back and not allowing the pin. Nwanonyuri went on to get a 13-4 major decision.
“He is only a second year wrestler, this is really his first full year at varsity,” Garwin said of Nwanonyuri. “He has been a big surprise, we’re hoping to get him through districts.”
Ben Hayes (152) followed his performance with a pin over Cedar Grove’s Lorenzo Fazio with 2.7 seconds remaining in the first period. He started off the round with a bulrush move, taking Fazio almost immediately to the mat. Fazio fought off the first few pin attempts, but once he was taken down, he was never able to escape. Eventually Hayes just overpowered him. The pin brought the Cougars within two points of the lead, and a Cedar Grove forfeit at 160 gave Columbia the lead for good.
Chris Auriemma added to the lead with a dominant 13-4 major decision over Nick Pelenskij. Auriemma took his opponent to the mat three times and racked up five near fall points in the win.
At 189, Cedar Grove’s Colby Neiland pulled out an impressive win over Yelan Sesay. After a big double leg takedown midway through the third period gave Neiland a 5-3 advantage, Sesay pulled off a very skillful reversal to tie the score at five, but was unable to get any near fall points, keeping the score knotted. Neiland battled and struggled to escape and get the winning point right before the third period buzzer sounded, giving him the 6-5 minor.
“Neiland showed a lot of guts tonight,” Brady said. “He hasn’t wrestled [prior to this season] in like six years and he just went out there and did exactly what we asked him to do.”
The decision made the score 32-27 in favor of Columbia, and at 215 pounds, Columbia’s Rondey Cenat iced the win for the Cougars with a first round pin over Dominic DiPrenda. Cedar Grove’s Vin Cordasco picked up their final win of the evening at heavy weight, and at 103, Columbia’s Khari Jarrett won by pin.
“One of the best wins that took any pressure off of us was Rodney Cenat’s pin,” Garwin said. “He has been having a tough season, and has lost a lot of one and two point matches.”
Both teams are in tune-up mode at this point in the season, with the district championships looming next weekend, and dual meet season quickly coming to a close.
