Kennedy Wrestling Dominates Westbury at Home

The Kennedy Cougars wrestling team proved their team dominance again on Thursday night at home in a big 63-6 defeat of the Westbury Green Dragons.

Kennedy won the first 11 matches to make their message clear that they are a team that is not to be taken lightly. David Greenstein got the ball rolling with a comeback victory at 96 pounds to defeat Kelby Then, 4-3. The Cougars eased through the next four matches, highlighted by a Robert Person pin in 39 seconds at 103 pounds and an 18-2 technical fall win by Richie Luxmore at 119 pounds.

Bobby Krug defeated Nahun Ramirez at 135 pounds by a 14-5 major decision and Mike Pizzirusso, at 145 pounds, and John Luxmore, at 152 pounds, both picked up first period pins.

Westbury finally got on the board after falling behind 51-0 when Jose Alvarez picked up a pin at 171 pounds.

The key factor to this match, despite the large margin of points, is the number of late wins the Cougars picked up. Tanner Zalud, at 130 pounds, and Jonathan Silverman, at 189 pounds, both beat their opponents in overtime after tying the match late in the third period and Evan Goldschlag won 5-4 after a last-second reversal at 160 pounds.

Score: Kennedy 63, Westbury 6

Heroes: Goldschlag was part of the most exciting match of the night when he battled back to defeat Wesley King, 5-4. Goldschlag picked up the two-point reversal in the final five seconds after being dragged down by King a number of times in an attempt to escape to tie the score.

“I was trying to get up and he just kept holding onto my wrist, so I was trying to push for a stall call because I knew I had to keep working to get out,” Goldschlag said. “Towards the end, I rolled and caught him, but it was a dogfight all the way through.”

Turning Point: Even though Kennedy won the first five matches to go up 26-0, there was still work left to be done. Zalud was losing to Oscar Nunez with 15 seconds left in the third period when  he picked up a takedown to tie the score at 6-6. He then scored the winning takedown in the extra period to keep the strong momentum going for his team.

Quotable: “Technically, we are wrestling a lot better. The kids are listening to the coaches on the sideline, which is important,” Kennedy head coach Brian DeGaetano said. “They are learning our game plan as far as what we are trying to do on our feet, on top and on bottom. It is starting to click.”

Bottom Line: Kennedy has shown vast improvement from early on in the season and features very few weaknesses in their line up from top to bottom. A conference title is very much in site for the Cougars with a critical match against Garden City awaiting.

Key Stat: With winning 14 out of the 15 weight classes, Kennedy was nothing short of dominant. The Cougars won seven matches by pin or technical fall, totaling 41 team points. Six matches were won in the third period or overtime, displaying their ability to wrestle for the full match.

Who’s next: Jericho @ Kennedy, Jan. 12, 7 p.m.

Box Score