Burke's pin sparks Burlington Central past Hampshire

Shane Burke almost didn't wrestle for Burlington Central Friday night. When he did take the mat, he still wasn't there all that long.

Burke needed just 8 seconds to pin his opponent. In the process, he set a school record for the fastest fall and led the Rockets (12-3, 3-0) to a 60-24 win against Hampshire and spoiling Hampshire's Senior Night in a Big Northern East dual meet in Hampshire.

"I wasn't going to wrestle (Burke), but I didn't like how the meet started," said Central coach Tony Rigitano. "Then he went out there and got that pin record, so he's pretty happy."

Both teams were a bit short-handed. Hampshire has been hit by the injury bug and Burlington's heavy schedule caused Rigitano to keep some regulars out of the lineup.

Hampshire won the first 3 matches of the night with pins, prompting Rigitano to bring Burke off the bench. Burke's was the second of 11 straight wins for the Rockets.

Chris Mull (135), Joe Gannon (152), Taylor Schuck (171), and Tim Vincent (215) also recorded pins for Burlington Central.

Hampshire, in just its second year with a wrestling program, then got back on track in the heavyweight match with Tyler Sorg recording the pin at the 1:50 mark. Tyler Espino at 112 pounds was another standout for the Whip-Purs (8-11, 2-2).

Burke qualified for state last year before losing in overtime in the semifinals. He used that for motivation during the offseason.

"I took that - the feeling of losing in overtime - and worked harder," he said. "I've been pushing it as hard as I could because I don't want to do that again."

The Rockets have continued to make strides as a program, beating perennial Big Northern powerhouse Harvard for the first time ever last Friday.

"Everyone's putting themselves out there and working real hard, letting themselves get tired at practice, and just opening to everything that coaches are teaching them," said Schuck. "You can see that we've come a long way and kids are dominating this year."

Hampshire forfeited 5 matches due to injuries.

"We're really hurt right now," said Hampshire coach Terry Wilkinson. "Normally we have a full lineup. Tonight we forfeited several matches and that really hurts."