Wrestling: Young Lions Take Bite Out of Panthers' Senior Night

WALLINGFORD—The meet started off with a warm Strath Haven presentation that featured their senior wrestlers, coaches and a few students who have helped out with the sport this year. It ended with a surprising victory.

Not that the Lions have a bad wrestling team; they're just short on upperclassmen, especially brought to light in Wednesday's meet, where there was extra focus on Strath Haven's plentiful senior core.

"We're a very young and inexperienced team, though we've made significant improvements. Out of 14 varsity spots, 10-11 are consistently filled by 9th or 10th graders," Coach Gregory Jacobs said.

Here's the match-by-match summary that led to Penncrest improving to 3-7.

Match 1: The meet started off with two evenly matched wrestlers in an exhausting back-and-forth. Strath Haven came out strong in the first period, Penncrest's Ronnie Frank rebounded nicely to dominate the second, and Strath Haven pushed back in the third. Neither could get the other to fall, and the nod went to the Panthers on points.

Match 2: This was another close one, and was twice delayed by injury. Strath Haven's wrestler had to be looked at and the mat needed some cleaning halfway through the second period, and when play resumed, Corey Schauerman all but had his opponent pinned—saved by the buzzer. Strath Haven's player needed another time stoppage in the third, presumably to patch the same wound. Schauerman won on points in the end.

Match 3: Connor Carey's bout was the most acrobatic of the night. He made several leaps, tumbles and twists that had spectators murmuring appreciatively, and he kept his cool even when in bad positions. With 24 seconds left in the second period, both wrestlers needed a bit of patching up. The match went to overtime, with the win going to Strath Haven despite Carey's strong performance.

Match 4: Heading into Wednesday's meet, impressive freshman Austin Jacque had 20 wins, 18 of which were by fall. In one of Penncrest's most standout bouts of the night, it took the slick-maneuvering Jacque just 55 seconds to add another fall to his victory tally. Keep an eye on this kid, folks.

Match 5: In contrast to all the matches leading up to it, this one was a stand-up fight. Bob Long and his opponent decided to circle and stalk each like knife fighters, hunched over and probing for openings. After several force-outs, Long got his opponent to fall in the second period.

Match 6: Chris VanZant also had a mostly stand-up bout. He all but pinned his guy when the referee called a halt for them being out of bounds, drawing a chorus of upset cries from Penncrest's side of the stands. Van Zant had control of the match by the end of the first period and it stayed that way. He kept his opponent twisted up and face down for most of the remaining two periods but couldn't get the pin.

Match 7: Evan Marabella found himself in trouble early, but recovered and had control of the first period, having his opponent nearly pinned when the buzzer sounded. For the remainder of the match, it was clear the outmatched and exhausted Strath Haven wrestler was just trying to run out the clock without the fall, and was saved by the buzzer again in the second, but Marabella finally pinned him in the third.

Match 8: In one of Penncrest's most dominant matches, powerhouse senior Robbie Marsden owned his match from the get-go, and got the fall halfway through the first period. Jacobs said he is impressed with this guy's evolution, and should be. "Marsden has gone from two wins as a sophomore to 10 wins as a junior and is already at 25 wins for this season," Jacobs said.

Match 9: The heavyweight match was gruelling to watch. Penncrest's 285-pound Page Moat had his hands full with a worthy Strath Haven opponent. Both survived a tough, evenly fought first period, then paused at :43 of the second so that Strath Haven's wrestler could be seen to for a minor injury. After many stoppages in the third, the decision went to the Panthers on points.

Match 10: The slow, deliberate power of the heavyweight bout was followed by a complete opposite kind of match: the smallest weight class, a storm of fast-flailing limbs and quick, spiderlike scrambling. Things got a little nasty in the third with a couple of ear slaps from Strath Haven, answered by a charge by Gunnar Michels that resulted in an accidental shot to his opponent's eye, which called a halt to the bout. Returning to the mat, Strath Haven's player seemed OK, as he ultimately got the win on points.

Match 11: The start of this match resembled two combative lobsters, the wrestlers snapping out time and again, trying to clamp down on the other's wrist, arm or neck. Penncrest's Robert Logan took control of things in the second period, and it seemed his opponent transformed from lobster-style to turtle-style, going on the defensive for most of the third to avoid being pinned. He succeeded in denying Logan the fall, but Logan won decisively on points, 12-2.

Match 12: In a reversal of the previous match, Richie Neelan got a tough draw against a wild, relentless Panther opponent. He avoided the fall, but this one-sided bout went to Strath Haven on points, 10-1.

Matches 13 and 14: Strath Haven won the final two bouts of the night, both by fall in the first period.

Despite the Panthers' late surge in the lower weight class matches, the youthful and inexperienced Penncrest's strong efforts won them the meet, 34-28. When these kids get another year or two of experience, they could very well dominate the league.