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Rams use six falls to down Sheffield |
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Tuesday, 12 January 2010 |
By Joseph Bell
JOHNSONBURG – The Johnsonburg Rams used four falls in addition to a pair of technical falls to stampede over Sheffield last night in a 46-17 win.
The Rams were fueled by back-to-back wins by fall at 130 pounds and 135 pounds from junior Max Zimmerman and senior Quinton O'Rourke, respectively.
Zimmerman, who used an early takedown to drop Sheffield's Zach Anderson, pinned his opponent just 42 seconds into the bout to give the Rams an early 17-5 lead.
O'Rourke later piled on more points for Johnsonburg with a win by fall at the 30-second mark of the first period in his bout against Sheffield's Dylan Smith. O'Rourke scored a takedown 38 seconds into the match and followed with three back points at the 1:01 mark.
Johnsonburg senior Preston Mahoney scored early and often in his bout against Sheffield's Michael Chittester in an eventual 16-0 technical fall victory. Mahoney, wrestling in the 152-pound bout, exploded in the second period with two takedowns and six back points en route to a 14-0 lead. A reversal just 13 seconds into the third period gave Mahoney the early win to give the Rams a 28-11 advantage.
Johnsonburg senior Michael Paladino, wrestling in the 171-pound bout, was caught in trouble early on but eventually regrouped to score a win by fall in the second period.
"Michael (Paladino) is weighing in at 160 pounds but we bumped him up to wrestle at 171 pounds," Johnsonburg head varsity wrestling coach Tom Launer said last night following the win. "(Paladino) almost got caught there being in the headlock but he was strong enough to work his way out of it and he got the fall there in the second period, and that's what we were anticipating.
"(Paladino) got the fall Saturday, too. It was a little shaky there for awhile but he worked his way out of it."
Paladino scored a takedown at the 1:09 mark but Sheffield's Patrick Rudolph got the reversal on the mat and put Paladino in a headlock, nearly pinning the standout senior. Rudolph tallied three back points with 11 seconds remaining in the first period but Paladino got a reversal and two back points before time expired to take a 6-5 lead. An early reversal gave Paladino an 8-5 cushion before scoring a win by fall at the 1:17 mark of the second period.
"We knew from wrestling them over the weekend (in the Coudersport Duals) that we matched up pretty well with them," Launer said. "It was pretty much the same result as Saturday but I give Sheffield a lot of credit because their wrestlers came out, weren't afraid and came to wrestle.
"They worked hard and (Sheffield head wrestling coach) Bryan (Gould) does a good job with them, and it's a nice team. This year, we just had a little bit better team." |
