Bristol pinned back by Lower Moreland
BucksLocalSports Editor
Hard to believe as things panned out, Bristol actually led twotime defending Bicentennial Athletic League (BAL) champion Lower Moreland in a dual meet between the schools last night (Jan. 16) on the Warriors’ home court.
While it took Lions 220-pounder Ben No just 47 seconds to give Lower Moreland a quick 6-0 lead, Bristol bounced back with D firVW SHrLRG SLQ Ey KHDvyweight Dylan Buck and a decision win by lightweight Angel Rodriguez, who notched three points in the fiQDO PLQuWH RI KLV PDWFK LQ overtaking Steven Dinh-so in the 106-pound matchup.
“They’re never-die Warriors – they have that heart in them,” said Bristol coach Enrique selez. “They just kept wrestling.”
Nothing went the Warriors’ way after that, however. Bristol actually lost points when senior Daulton BrDGy wDV flDJJHG IRr flDgrant misconduct in the 170-pound matchup.
7KH GLVTuDOLfiFDWLRQ GLG nothing to affect the out- come of this one. By the time Brady entered the ring, the Lions led 49-9 on the strength of pins by Jimmy McGuigan (113), Dmitri Bourlako (132), Max Rosetsky (145), John Chung (152) and Max Pylayev (160), a major by Joe Kovacs in the 120-pound match and a 10-4 decision by Kyle Baker at 126.
“No matter what the score is, we always teach our kids to always work for the fall; don’t just stop and hold onto a lead,” said Lower Moreland head coach Dan Park. “Even if they’re losing the match, [we teach them] to constantly work for the fall because it’s wrestling, and the pin can come at any moment.”
Of the seven pins registered by the Lions WednesGDy QLJKW, fivH FDPH LQ WKH firVW SHrLRG, DQG WKrHH wHrH rHFRrGHG LQ WKH firVW PLQuWH on the mat.
Lower Moreland went on to a whopping 67-6 triumph to remain unbeaten in the BAL. The Lions push their record to 3-0 and are 11-3 overall on the season. Winners of their previous two BAL bouts with Phil-Mont Christian (60-18) and Del- Co Christian (54-24), the Warriors fell to 2-2 in the BAL and are 3-5, overall, on the season.
Afterward, a couple of Bristol wrestlers expressed the sentiment that their team didn’t receive a fair VKDNH IrRP WKH PDWFK RIficial. Some said Brady was just trying to shake Lower Moreland’s Hank Campbell in the 170-pound match between the two.
“That elbow thing -- he was just trying to spin,” said junior Lorenzo Lluveres. “Why would he even try to elbow him? Our wrestlers are not like that; they don’t cheat. We wrestle tough and we wrestle fair.”
“I think we robbed.”
Coach selez had his own vLHw RI WKH RIfiFLDWLQJ, however.
“Referees call them the way they see them; referees are honest people,” stated selez. “We have a lot of young wrestlers that have to learn that referees have the last word. We don’t.”
The only grappler on the side of the Warriors who may have had a legitimate EHHI wLWK WKH RIfiFLDWLQJ was Lluveres, who lost a 10-4 decision to Lions 126-pounder Kyle Baker. While Baker amassed a 7-2 OHDG RQ LOuvHrHV LQ WKH firVW period, Lorenzo wrestled the Lower Moreland senior
all
got to a stalemate in the last two frames only to see Baker H[WHQG KLV OHDG IrRP fivH WR six points.
“I think I got robbed,” stated Lluveres. “I had a half-pin and they said that it was illegal and I didn’t pull anyway or anything. It was a regular half. The kid was stalling the whole match and I didn’t get nothing for that.”
When an opponent stalls, selez says, his wrestlers have got to take advantage.
“Sometimes, when the other wrestler gets ahead, he starts stalling and he’ll make believe that he’s wrestling,” said the coach. “That’s part of wrestling.”
“Our wrestler has to try to score points in that situation. Every time that he did, their wrestler went off the mat. Again, that’s part of the game.”
A key point in the battle with the Lions came in the 113-, 120- and 126-pound matchups. That’s where Bristol sophomore Josh Maldonado and juniors Nick Cramp and Lluveres came up to bat.
Maldonado entered the 113-pound bout sporting an 8-3 varsity record but trailed McGuigan 6-0 after one period and 11-0 after two before getting pinned in 4:34.
Cramp came in with an 8-1 rHFRrG LQFOuGLQJ D firVW place medal in the New Hope Invitational Tournament that kicked off the season. Against Kovacks however, he fell behind 7-2 when the Lions wrestler registered a reversal and three back-points in the second period. Kovacks extended his lead with a reversal and a takedown in the fiQDO IrDPH WR wLQ D PDMRr decision, 11-3.
By the time Lluveres left the circle, Bristol trailed the meet, 19-9. Five more pins by the visitors, two forfeit wins and a Dn and it was all over.
Despite the lopsided VFRrH, 9HOH] LV FRQfiGHQW WKH Warriors will bounce back.
“We’re going to wrestle them again and the results will change; Lorenzo will do better,” the coach said.
Bristol’s chance at redemption is coming up quickly. The Warriors have fivH ERuWV WKLV 6DWurGDy, Jan. 19 in the Chichester Invitational. Among the squads Bristol will go up against are the host team, Danville, Cardinal O’Hara and Episcopal Academy.
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