St. Marys' Sadosky, Fordoski go out winners

by Chris Wechtenhiser, Tri-County Sunday Assistant Sports Editor.

Posted on March 14, 2010

HERSHEY - St. Marys senior Sean Sadosky experienced an emotional, roller-coaster weekend at the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling championships, but in the end the Dutchman ended his career with a dominating win in his fifth-place match to send both himself and his head coach out in style.
Sadosky opened the tournament on a high, winning his first two bouts over two returning state qualifiers in Owen J. Roberts' Scott Syrek and Cumberland Valley's Travis Friend. Sadosky beat Syrek, who placed sixth at 215 last year, 11-7 Thursday, then upended Friend, 8-4, in Friday's quarterfinals.
The win over Friend set up a semifinal showdown Saturday morning with Selinsgrove's Spencer Myers, a returning state runner-up at 215 who is headed to Maryland to wrestle.
Myers proved to be too much for the Dutchman as he put Sadosky on his back four different times in a 15-0 technical fall in 4:50. Myers entered the state finals against Central Mountain's Dylan Corl with a 43-0 record this year and a 148-18 career mark.
That dropped Sadosky into the consolation semifinals, one of the hardest matches to wrestle at states as a wrestler must regroup from heartbreak of a semifinal setback in short time.
The Dutchman used an escape and takedown in the second period to grab a 3-2 lead against Souderton's Joe Stolfi. However, Stolfi countered with a reversal late in the period and then a reversal in the third for a 6-3 victory.
Sadosky regrouped after his second straight loss, the first two of the season for him, and ended his career in dominant fashion against Whitehall's Taray Carey in the fifth-place match. Sadosky jumped out to a 2-1 first-period lead thanks to a takedown.
The Dutchman started down in the second, escaped and took down Carey again for a 5-1 lead. Carey worked free before the end of the period to trial 5-2.
Sadosky then put the match away in the third when he put Carey on his back for three nearfall points. Carey managed a late escape, but it wasn't enough as Sadosky notched the 8-3 lead.
Sadosky's fifth-place finish not only closed out his stellar St. Marys career, but also that of head coach Wayne Fordoski, who is retiring after 31 years at the helm of the Flying Dutch wrestling program.
"It definitely feels good to win that last match and end my career with a victory," Sadosky said. "It was nice to get those first two wins under my belt, but I wish I could have wrestled a little better in the semifinals and then that next match. Myers was a tough kid, and then it was hard to come back and wrestle right away after losing that one because I was pretty drained.
"I was hoping to do a little better, but it is what it is. I made it to states three years and improved each year, so that's a good thing. It also meant a lot to me to send coach out with a medal and win that last match. He built the Dutch wrestling program, and I owe a lot to him."
Sadosky, who is headed to Shippensburg University to play football, went 36-2 this year and capped off his career with a 118-34 record, ranking him second on the Dutch's all-time wins list.
Brad Steinbach holds the record at 122 and Sadosky passed Doug Surra (117) with his win in the fifth-place match.
Sadosky also was Fordoski's 31st state qualifier and captured the 15th state medal during the veteran coach's tenure.
Fordoski, who amassed 328 dual-meet wins during his 31-year career, coached two state champs - Tim Wittman (1986) and Ben Keebler ('91) - among his 14 state winners.
He also had coached 74 District 9 champs and eight regional champs, and the Dutch reached the D-9 Class AAA Dual Meet Tournament finals eight times in the 21-year history of the event, winning four titles.
Prior to Fordoski taking over the Dutch program, St. Marys had just one district champion and no state qualifiers.
"It's a dream come true to end my career with Sean getting a medal and winning that last match," Fordoski said. "That's something he'll always remember, and the one thing I told him coming down here though was that he didn't owe me anything. He's gotten me down here the past three years and I didn't want to put any added pressure on him to win for me.
"I know he wishes he had wrestled better in that semifinal match, and that next one is just so hard to come back for. However, he regrouped for his last match and wrestled like he can. He's had a great career and ended it with a dominant win. That's something he can really celebrate, finishing Top 5, because 215 was loaded. If you look at the four semifinalists, their combined record was 140-1."

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