The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Big win at 220 lifts Perry over Riverside
Boosted by early five-point move, Pirates’ Jackson earns decision
A dejected Tommy Jackson stood on the Perry sideline late last fall, his hand in a cast from a ligament injury that ended his high school football season.
He wasn’t about to that injury ruin his wrestling season, too.
After battling back through rehab sessions and offseason workouts, the senior 220-pounder had one of the biggest victories of his career on Jan. 9, with his 9-2 decision over Riverside’s Ethan Bartlett giving his team enough points to outlast the Beavers, 36-35, in a dual meet in Riverside Field House.
Prior to Jackson’s win, Riverside had a 35-27 lead. If Bartlett had beaten Jackson, the Beavers would have won the dual.
Instead, an early five-point move gave Jackson a lead he didn’t lose. His win narrowed the deficit to 35-30. And when Perry took a forfeit win at 285, the Pirates had the victory they wouldn’t have had if Jackson would have lost.
“It feels amazing,” Jackson said. “It’s my senior year. My last hurrah. It feels good that I overcame that injury and am back here to clinch a big dual win against Riverside today.”
Jackson nearly had a pin in the first period, but an inadvertent whistle on a hands-to-the-face technical violation brought the wrestlers back to the center of the mat with Jackson leading, 5-1.
Jackson continued his dominance the rest of the match.
“Tommy has the confidence this year,” said Perry coach Dave Rowan. “He’s strong and he’s matured. he wrestled well. I’m happy for him.”
With the win, Perry’s dual record improved to 10-2, while Riverside fell to 4-1.
Both teams were without a marquee wrestler, Perry without Collin Koenig and Riverside without Danny Martich. But it was a tight match throughout.
“Talk about a fun dual,” said Riverside coach Justin Toth. “Back and forth, back and forth. A one-point dual? We get a few bonus points here or there and it’s a different dual.”
Perry looked like it was going to cruise early on when Riley Rowan (106) and Zach Bellissimo (113) each won by cradle pins. Those, coupled with Brock Christian’s 4-1 decision at 120 when he rode out Riverside’s Christian French for the entire third period, gave Perry a 15-0 lead.
But then Riverside hit the strong part of its lineup, winning four of the next five matches. Chris Rocha (126) won by pin at 126, Tyler Witterich won by 13-5 major decision at 138 — a marquee bout against Perry’s Calvin Rowan — Gavin Richner pulled out a 4-3 decision at 145, and Tyler Longstaff pinned at 152 to cut the margin to 21-19.
“We needed a fall from Chris, and he got the pin,” Toth said. “Witterich got bonus points against a tough kid, and Tyler was doing what he does - he’s a madman on top and he hits those cradles.”
Perry took a forfeit win at 160, and then Riverside won at 170 on Jacob Farenchak’s major decision, followed by Antonio Bottiggi’s pin at 182 that gave Riverside a 29-27 lead.
But the lead wasn’t safe, with with Riverside taking a forfeit in a 195 for a 3527 lead.
That meant all Perry needed was a win from Jackson to take the dual, and Jackson came through.
“We’re a very close team,” said Jackson of the importance of the dual win. “This team believes in one another. We’re very confident we can go pretty far as a team this year.”
It’s been a while since the Pirates have been able to say that. But after a few years of lower numbers and having multiple wrestlers at the same weight class and thus unable to fill a full lineup, the Pirates are more formidable this year from top to bottom.
“It is exciting (to have a full lineup) and I love duals, too,” Rowan said. “Without tournament this year, we’re doing duals. And we have a good dual meet team. It’s exciting for the kids to have that excitement of duals.”
Perry will host Chardon on Jan. 14, while Riverside has two matches next week, at Twinsburg and at Green.