Rams grapplers use bonus points for win

by Joseph Bell

Posted on December 19, 2009

Friday, 18 December 2009

JOHNSONBURG – With a short lineup, the Johnsonburg Rams grabbed bonus points off three fall victories en route to a 42-27 win last night on the wrestling mats against visiting Brockway. With the match tied at 27-27, Johnsonburg's Zac Wolfe, who moved up for the night to wrestle in the 140-pound weight class, scored a victory by fall with 1:06 remaining in the second period. An aggressive Wolfe jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after a takedown and tallied three back points for a 7-2 first period cushion.
Wolfe kept up with his offensive attack before scoring a fall 54 seconds into the second period to give the Rams a 33-27 lead.
A forfeit win for Johnsonburg's Mitchell Schloder gave the Rams the guaranteed win at 39-27.
In the final match at 152 pounds, Johnsonburg's Preston Mahoney wrestled a cautious bout but came back for a 3-1 win over Brockway's Trevor Hartless.
After a scoreless first period, Hartless scored an escape 25 seconds into the second period to grab a 1-0 advantage. An early escape knotted the score at 1-1 in the third period before Mahoney caught Hartless for a takedown for a 3-1 lead and the match with just 25 seconds to go.
And with a 2-0 record to start the new season, Johnsonburg head wrestling coach Tom Launer said he can't complain.
"The kids are wrestling well and we're really happy starting at 2-0 without a full lineup," Launer said. "In both dual matches now, we've had to move kids and bump them up, and they've responded well with no complaints and they're doing what they have to do for the team to win.
"After weigh-ins for both matches, we sat them down and explained to them what we'd have to do to win and move some guys around, and the kids have been cooperative. Whatever we have to do to win."
To compensate for a short lineup, the Rams bumped Jesse Wolfe to 125 pounds, Michael Paladino to 171 pounds and Jon DeCecchis up to 160 pounds.
Paladino scored a 6-2 decision over Brockway's Ryan Terwilliger early in the evening to cut the deficit to 6-3.
DeCecchis was pinned by Brockway's Trevor Hartless in the opening match of the night.
"We did really well winning five out of seven on the mat (last night), and we won seven out of nine down at Cameron County the other night," Launer said. "Hopefully, with next week, we'll have a 215-pounder, after Christmas we'll have a 189-pounder and come Jan. 15, we'll have a 112-pounder.
"After Jan. 15, we'll pretty much have a full lineup. We have quite a few matches to get through before that."
To further compensate for the lack of a full lineup, Launer said scoring falls has been the key thus far this season.
"We stress to them that we have to get bonus points and we got some falls (last night)," Launer said. "We have to be aggressive and wrestle hard.
"They've been wrestling aggressively so far this year and that's how we won the Cameron County match. We're going for the falls and since we're a small school, we don't have a lot of kids but the ones that we have are tough and wrestle hard."

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