|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
News
Fighting through injuries : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisFighting through injuries
| Oswego wrestlers win two at Orange Blue Mega Duals
| by Matt Daniels
| 1/14/2010
|
Giving up unwarranted points in any wrestling match hurts.
For the Oswego wrestling team, last Saturday had the indication of a hurtful and painful day - both literally and in the scorebook.
The Panthers were without seven key contributors in their lineup either due to injury or illness, yet overcame that to finish 2-1 at Oswego's own Orange Blue Mega Duals.
Oswego forfeited a combined 14 matches on the day, yet earned a 40-38 win against Stagg and a 57-24 win against Palatine. Oswego's lone loss came against Lincoln-Way East, falling 44-30 to the Griffins.
"Considering we were giving away all those matches, to win two out of three is outstanding," Oswego head coach Greg Scott said. "I told them before the day that 'Hey, we're giving up a bunch of points so we need to make sure if we get a chance, we've got to look for pins, or if you get a chance to get a major, we've got to look for it.'"
The Panthers certainly did that against Stagg, re-taking the lead at 24-20 following a pin by junior Ross Reeder at 135 pounds. But Stagg won the next three matches via forfeit to take a 38-24 advantage with only three matches left. However, junior Dan Roman picked up a forfeit win at 160 for the Panthers, and then senior Gil Ferrer won by pin in 1 minute, 46 seconds at 171 to make it a 38-36 match. This set the stage for freshman Cody Snodgrass at 189, and Snodgrass delivered with a 10-2 win to give the Panthers four points to secure the win.
The match started out on a somewhat strange note, with state-ranked senior Dan Howell losing 4-0 at 215 pounds, only his second loss of the season.
"Some of these younger kids haven't seen him lose that often so it's like 'OK, what's going on?'" Scott said. "They came out, started getting after it and we won some big matches. It really kind of fired the team up and that momentum carried the team through then the rest of the way."
Scott did some shuffling of his lineup against Lincoln-Way East, moving Howell to heavyweight with normal heavyweight Johnny Herrera out sick. Oswego held an early 12-0 win after Howell won via forfeit and freshman Frank Yattoni won with a pin in 1:39 at 103. But Oswego would only win three more matches the rest of the way, with Ferrer picking up a win by technical fall at 171, Snodgrass an 18-4 decision at 189 and senior Jason Hartigan wining by pin in 3:06 at 215.
The Panthers dominated Palatine, winning 10 matches and the only four matches they lost was because of forfeits.
Yattoni, freshman Bo Pradel at 112, Ferrer, Snodgrass, Hartigan and Howell all won by pins, with senior Gino Muzzalupo recording a win by tech fall at 119 and Reeder picking up a 19-7 decision.
Yattoni, Pradel, Ferrer and Snodgrass all went 3-0 on the day to help the Panthers out. Those performances helped make up for the loss of Herrera, senior Hazel Vergaralope (140), freshman Brett Wainwright (119), junior Dustin Keenan (135), junior Branden Wolf (145) and junior Dan Roman (152), who were all out with minor injuries and ailments. Scott said all the wrestlers that missed some time should return soon.
The Panthers also had to deal with the snowy weather postponing their Southwest Prairie Conference triangular at Romeoville from last Thursday to last Friday. Oswego suffered a 43-25 loss against Plainfield North to start the meet, but recovered with a 45-27 win against Romeoville.
"I was pretty impressed with (Plainfield North)," Scott said. "They're a pretty physical team. I did some bumping (to my lineup). I brought Gino up and put him at (119), and put Brett at (125), and (junior) Matt McFall up to (130) to fill out our lineup. Unfortunately as a coach, you do that and gamble sometimes bumping a kid up a weight to try to limit forfeits."
Yattoni won his match at 103 to give the Panthers a 4-0 lead, but Pradel, Muzzalupo, Wainwright and McFall all lost their matches to put Oswego into a 17-4 hole the Panthers could never recover from. Reeder, Ferrer, Snodgrass, Howell and Herrera also claimed victories against the Tigers.
The Panthers fell behind Romeoville 9-0, but McFall won by pin at 125 and started the Panthers on a roll. Oswego won seven of the subsequent nine matches to come away with the 18-point win.
"The kids came out with a different enthusiasm, different energy level (against Romeoville)," Scott said. "After losing a conference meet they wanted to win, they came out with a little bit more aggression in that second match I would say, and really got after it."
The Panthers also lost a hard-fought dual match to non-conference foe St. Charles East on Jan. 6. Oswego led 33-30 heading into the final match at 140, but Vergaralope was pinned at 140 to give the Saints the win. Sophomore Josh Howell, Ferrer, Snodgrass, Dan Howell, Yattoni, Pradel and Wainwright all picked up wins for the Panthers.
Oswego - who was 8-11 in dual meets heading into Wednesday's home meet against Waubonsie Valley on Wednesday (results unavailable at press time) - will try to improve to 4-3 in the SPC when it hosts cross-town rival Oswego East tonight, Thursday, at 5:30 p.m. Not only is it the Panthers lone crack at the Wolves, it is also Oswego's Senior Night and last home dual meet of the season.
"The cross-town match is always an exciting one, regardless of who's up or who's down because these are the kids they've been wrestling against in Kids' Club, junior high, all the way through," Scott said. "A lot of these kids know each other from the neighborhood even. It's a whole different kind of match and the kids get excited about it."
The Panthers will then travel to take part in the Kaneland Invite at 9 a.m. this Saturday, which is Oswego's last competition before the SPC Meet arrives on Saturday, Jan. 30 at Plainfield North, and the Class 2A Oswego Regional the following Saturday on Feb. 6.
"We're working for February and these matches coming along here are all about getting ready for that," Scott said. "They're coming along and they're starting to open up and they're starting to understand that. We're wrestling aggressive and we're working on stuff in practice and I'm seeing that being used in the meets."
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
