Elkers dump Dutch

by Chris Wechtenhiser, C-E Assistant Sports Editor

Posted on January 8, 2010

RIDGWAY - With the Tool City Invitational looming, Ridgway and St. Marys battled each other Thursday night in a tune-up for that event and the Elkers came away with a convincing 45-9 home victory.
Ridgway won 10 of the 13 bouts, with there being no match at 103, and collected bonus points in seven bouts for a 15-0 advantage in that category.
The Elkers got pins from Corey Bush (112), Kyle Caggiano (125) and D.J. Skraba (152), while Joe Chittester received a forfeit at heavyweight. Ridgway's Steve Mitchell (135), Nate Dornisch (145) and Sam Skraba (160) all won by major decisions.
The score could have been a little worse, but St. Marys had a few wrestlers save some bonus points in losses. St. Marys lone wins came from Sean Sadosky (215), Evan Smith (119) and Sam Miller (130), who scored a nice 5-0 win over Elker Jeff Slattery.
"Our kids wrestled well, but so did St. Marys," said Ridgway head coach Gary Gerber. "Their kids were scrappy and didn't give up, I was impressed by that. We got the win and that's the most important thing."
The match started at 215 where Sadosky got the Dutch off to a solid start with an 8-3 win over Jesse Sheasley. The Elker actually opened the scoring with a second period escape, but Sadosky then took down Sheasley and scored two sets of backpoints for a 7-1 lead after the frame.
Sadosky escaped from the bottom in the third before Sheasley recorded a takedown to set the final. The win was No. 97 in Sadosky's career and he should reach the century mark this weekend in Meadville. Sadosky's win also gave the Dutch their lone lead of the night as Chittester's forfeit win at 285 gave the Elkers the lead for good.
There was no match at 103 as Gerber bumped Corey Bush up to 112 to get a match instead of a forfeit and Bush pinned Trenton Bowers in 58 seconds. The schools traded wins in the next four bouts with the Dutch's Evan Smith starting that stretch with a 7-6 victory against Trevor Delhunty at 119.
Smith and Delhunty battled back-and-forth the entire match. Smith led 3-2 after one period, then used two escapes in the third to hold that one-point lead at 5-4. Delhunty tied the match on a penalty point in the third period, then grabbed a 6-5 lead with an escape. However, Smith got a takedown late in the period for the win.
Caggiano followed with a first-period pin in 1:35 over Dutchman Alex Coudriet, while Miller made a takedown and three backpoints in the first period against Slattery hold up in his 5-0 decision. Miller's win was St. Marys' third and final one of the night as Ridgway captured the final seven bouts.
Steve Mitchell started the closing run with a strong 15-2 major decision over Darren Lyon at 135. Mitchell scored two takedowns, reversal and three different sets of backpoints in the bout.
Garet Pisani followed with a 6-1 win over the Dutch's Butch Yetzer. Pisani scored a takedown in each of the first two periods, then added a reversal in the third.
The win tied Pisani with former teammate Brock Leitzel for fourth on the school's all-time wins list at 123. Pisani passed his older brother Colby earlier in the week with a win against Towanda.
Elker Nate Dornisch kept Ridgway's run going with a 17-3 major decision over Allan Gursky at 145, while teammate D.J. Skraba pinned Joey McLaughlin in 3:45 at 152. Dornisch built a 9-1 first-period lead in his match and recorded five takedowns in the victory.
Sam Skraba made it five in a row for Ridgway with an 11-2 major decision of Michael Brennen at 160, while Seth Stahl and Chad Quail closed out the run with victories.
Stahl scored all three of his points in the second period en route to a 3-1 win over Alex Geitner at 171, while Quail topped Kyle Schneider 7-2. Quail, wrestling in place of Zack Zelcs, scored a first-period takedown, then recorded a reversal and three backpoints in the second period for the win.
"Yetzer has always seemed to beat us no matter who he wrestled, so that was a good match for Garet and a nice win for us," Gerber said. "Both wrestlers will benefit from a match like that. D.J. came out very aggressive tonight and got a big pin, and we got Chad Quail some experience tonight as well.
"I'm not just coaching for his year, but for the future and Zack let Chad step in there tonight to get some experience. Chad has the potential and he wrestled very well tonight and got a nice win."
As for Dutch coach Wayne Fordoski, he knew coming in that his team was in for a rough night.
"We knew that team score-wise it was going to be rough, but I thought our kids wrestled tough tonight," Fordoski said. "Ridgway has a great team and is good at every weight, and we knew every match was going to be a battle.
"Evan Smith pulled out a late win, and Sam got a good win against a tough kid in Slattery."
Ridgway improved to 5-0 while St. Marys fell to 1-2.

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