Braves' Wrestlers Overwhelm PC With Quick Wins

Indian Hills wrestlers earned a "nice win," according to coach Austin Wall, on Wednesday night against Paramus Catholic, beating the Paladins 50-24.

Hills got three quick opening round pinfalls by their big men to start the match and completed the win with big wins by their middleweights late to close it out.

The match began with the 171-pound class in a matchup between Vince Nicoletti of IH and Justin Costello of PC. Nicoletti outweighed Costello by more than 10 pounds, and he used his weight to his advantage to get an early first-minute pin to win the match.

Tyler Bray followed suit next in the 189-pound class, also defeating his opponent, Hyunsoo Kim, via pinfall in the first round.

In what was arguably the match of the day, James Remza won by decision against Fernando Garip in the 215-pound class. This was a battle in which Remza had the lead after the first round only to see Garip take control with a one-point lead going into the third and decisive round. In the final round, Remza got the win on a takedown in the closing seconds and sent his team into an uproar.

In the heavyweight battle, Indian Hills got another quick victory with a first-round pin by senior Tyler Leroy over the Paladins' Richardo Sanchez.

After the big men concluded, it was onto the little guys, starting with the 103-pound weight class. Paramus Catholic got their first win when Joseph Baldicanas locked in a submission to defeat IH's Adrian Gierek.

Indian Hills got right back to their winning ways in the next match when 112-pounder Michael Laurice finished off Richard Izquerdo in the second round after dominating him 11-4 in the first.

The Paladins then achieved consecutive victories with a forfeit in the 119-pound class and a great win by Dan Weglarz over IH's Jack Conklin in the 125-pound class. There was no score in the first round, but Conklin earned a point in the second to take the lead into the final round. Weglarz battled back and got a reversal then a takedown to take the lead. Conklin had one last chance starting at a neutral position with five seconds to go, but Weglarz took him down again in the final second to earn the victory for the Paladins.

Another forfeit gave Paramus Catholic a win in the 130-pound class, but PC had to forfeit a match of their own, giving Mark Sheridan the win for the Braves at 135. This halted Paramus Catholic's momentum and gave Indian Hills a 32-21 lead.

Another good match came when Julian Guliarte of the Braves met Peter Seeback of PC at 140. Guliarte fought hard but Seeback wore him down over the first two rounds to win a hard-fought decision, 3-2.

Indian Hills put the match away when Dan Longo (145 lbs) got a quick first-round pin and Nick Polifrone (152 lbs) won via forfeit. After Ian Giacobbe (160) ended the match with a third-round pin, Indian Hills had defeated Paramus Catholic50-24. 

 After the match, Wall got on the microphone and thanked everybody for attending. He said that their success was due to a big crowd showing up and cheering on the team.

When asked if he thinks his team could build on the win, Wall responded with an emphatic "absolutely!" He said, "You have to try and take steps off your small successes."