Columbia has the edge on Ballston Spa, 41-30
Blue Devil wrestling coach Anthony Servidone earns his 350th career win
BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. >> There are some matches that are memorable with coaches and wrestlers cherishing for years to come. Then there are some that the two combatants can never shake off due to the losses they suffered on the same night.
Columbia High School will cherish Wednesday night’s 4130 road win at Ballston Spa as it marked the 350th career win for coach Anthony Servidone and for the Blue Devils, everything went their way.
Columbia took advantage of the contest starting at 182 pounds and ripped off four straight wins before giving way to the Scotties lightweights. The Blue Devils bounced back and closed out the night with four wins late, including a pair of pins to put the contest out of reach for Ballston Spa and move up into the fray in the Suburban Council Grey Division.
“I knew it was going to be a battle, that’s for sure,” Columbia Coach Anthony Servidone said. “Any Harvey Staulters, Stault
ers brother’s teams are extremely good, well prepared, very skilled, very strong, great tradition here.
“The draw and the flip were very advantageous for us, having some favorable match-ups, but you still have to execute on the mat, get it done, which we did,” Servidone said. “We got some surprise wins and even the back end, some of our guys lost, not giving up pins, techs (technical pin falls) and majors.”
Blue Devil Angelo Cioffi earned a 5-1 win to open the night at 182 over Ballston Spa’s Chris Grace before Columbia junior Oliver Donahue overcame a slow start to pin Ballston sophomore Dylan Wolfe with 31 seconds left in the third period, a four-second splash from takedown to pin at 195.
“I didn’t want to lose, I wanted to beat that kid,” Oliver Donohue said. “I was going to quit, I was very close, but I just pushed through, double-legged him and pinned him. I was happy.”
Down 5-4 through two periods Donohue gave up an escape to Wolfe in early on before using a double-leg takedown with 35 seconds left to tie the match at five points each before putting Wolfe’s shoulder blades to the mat just four seconds later.
“I wasn’t wrestling the way I do today, today was not my day,” Donohue said. “I’ve got to fix my mindset, get a better mindset, go out and wrestle harder.”
At 285-pounds Columbia’s Steven Vera earned a 10-6 win over Ballston Spa’s Mike Lupo who stepped up in class Wednesday night despite giving up three stall points to his Scotties competitor.
The Scotties got their first win of the night when 99-pounderRalph Keeney earned a 4-0 win over Matt Hoxie and Alex Crawford. Cameron Hinchcliff pinned
Alex Crawford at 2:46 and Nick Palso pinned Chad Benedict in 16 seconds. Ballston Spa took its first lead of the night when Connor Gregory was awarded a forfeit at 120-pounds for the 21-17 lead.
It wouldn’t last as Columbia’s Noah Smith outlasted Zach Fitzgerald 12-5 at 132.
There was excitement in the 138-pound tilt as Blue Devil Jacob Slovak and Scottie Ian Hansen returned to the center of the mat with 13 seconds left in the match tied at eight points apiece and Walsh was able to put Slovak on his back with one second left for the two-point victory and give the lead back to Columbia, 29-21.
The night would finish with the Blue Devils on top and both teams now 1-1 in the Suburban Council Grey Division with a few weeks of duals to go before tournament time is upon all of them.
The starting weight, losing the coin flip for choice of entry at weight and a lackluster start will keep Staulters awake at night.
“It was the worst thing that could have happened to us,” Harvey Staulters said about the start. “We didn’t wrestle as well as we have been and that’s my fault.
“Physically they’re prepared, mentally they were not prepared for tonight. We’ll go back to the drawing board tomorrow.”
Both teams will send their top wrestlers to the Eastern States Tournament at Sullivan Community College Friday and Saturday with more tight Suburban Council matches on the horizon as both take on Blue Division rival Averill Park in the coming weeks.