Marmion downs Public League power
The best-laid plans of the two wrestling coaches failed to materialize Wednesday night in Aurora.
“We scheduled this match last spring thinking it would be a very good Class 2A competition,” Marmion coach Dean Branstetter said of the Cadets’ nonconference dual meet with Public Power Bowen. “We thought there would be some marquee matchups.”
After surrendering 18 points in a three-match flurry, Marmion stormed back with eight consecutive wins to double up the Boilermakers, 44-22.
Paul Khoury began the night for Marmion with a first-period fall at 170 pounds, and the spread was soon 9-0 when Cody Snodgrass’ first-period takedown and second-period escape was enough to outlast the Boilermakers’ Andre Thigpen at 182 pounds.
Marmion, however, has no athletes at 195 points, and Bowen reversed its deficit when Alex Fritz, rated No. 2 in the state at 220 pounds, was unable to face off with DeQuence Goodman, the top-ranked Class 2A athlete in the state.
Bowen bumped its senior standout to heavyweight, and he needed only 41 seconds to dispatch his opponent to conclude the Boilermakers’ 18-point unanswered run.
“I”m disappointed (not to have faced Fritz),” Goodman said. “It was something I wanted to do all week.”
But the Bowen 9-point lead evaporated in an avalanche of Marmion wins between 106 and 160 pounds.
Anthony Bosco and Jake Cornish began the onslaught with back-to-back falls, and Jake Field overcame a sluggish start at 120 pounds with two straight sequences of takedowns and 3-point near-falls to cement a major decision for Marmion.
Controversy engulfed the end of the 126-pound showdown between the Cadets’ Eddie Greco and Rudy Johnson when the latter was awarded back points in the waning seconds to eke out a 4-2 win.
To make matters worse for Bowen, the squad was deducted a team point for its coaches’ verbal outbursts to the referees’ decision.
“You get good calls, you get back calls,” Greco said. “I’m not going to argue the call. I got the (team) points.”
George Fisher, the Cadets’ reigning state champion, amassed 7 takedowns before vanquishing his foe in the first period to extend the Marmion cushion to 34-17.
Angelo Silvestro then completed the run of one-sided Marmion wins with a convincing 18-6 triumph at 138 pounds.
“I’m still overwhelmed about Cheesehead,” Silvestro said of his championship run at the prestigious national tournament over the holidays. ‘I continued to do my thing.”
Ryan Riggs and Sam Kellett completed the Cadets’ 35-0 run, which only ended with Raheem Woods’ technical fall at 160 pounds.
“It was a good win for us,” Branstetter said. “I thought we wrestled pretty well.”