End of the Regular Season
Phewwwwwww......that's over. What a day. It started out better than anyone could have scripted. Big Man with a pin, boom, up by 6. Silvestro with a pin, boom, up by 12. Demitrius with a pin, bang, up by 18. Dunnet with a pin, slam dunk, up by 24. Duca wrestles tough, gets the decision in OT and Wurtenberger handles his business....don't blink - Paulsboro is up by 30 to 0.
And then Niko had to wrestle Luke Grassi. Oy vey. To Niko's credit, he battled all six minutes but Grassi is no slouch. So now, Pburg has 3 points on the board. Next up for his first bout of the season, Josh Kline. Nice to see Josh back out and I'm sure we'll see him get progressively better but he's no where near Match shape yet and he got stuck in the 2nd period. Fine, Pburg now has 9 points.
Justin Sullivan returned to the mat also today and he was next. I was really proud of Justin. No he didn't win but Justin wrestled all 6 minutes. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult that is, especially in a big match like today. So now they have 12 points. It's Hoehn's turn next and it became apparent in this match that somehow the ref was starting to lose it. The man (I'm assuming man, he looked about 12 years old to me) hadn't called stalling all day and trust me, Pburg had been stalling. I'm all for banging kids that aren't wrestling but you can't change your criteria in the middle of a match. Anyway, he hit Ryan with a few calls when Ryan wasn't doing anything the Liners hadn't been doing all day. Whatever - now they have 15. Remember, we still have the 30 we had a life time ago.
The next victim, Matt Funston. Apparently Gentile is still sick (didn't make the trip) so Matt got some more experience. He was doing a good job but once again, the ref decided to get in on the action. he actually hit Matt with a stall call while Matt was on his feet moving forward. It was ridiculous. Not that Matt was winning the match but still, let's not punish the kid for something he didn't do. And so the Pburg score climbs to 19.
We're down to 3 matches now. Do the math. If Buddha wins, just wins, the match is mathematically over. Seems simple enough. Ha! Buddha got screwed. I mean screwed, big time. I know Buddha has had his moments this season but right from the opening whistle, we knew Jeff was here to wrestle. He shot, he was quick and scored right off the bat. Then the ref got involved. Buddha got poked in the eye but hang on, no point is awarded. Without doing second by second recall, let's just say that it got ugly. Buddha got hit with cautions, he got hit with stalling, he had back points counted when he wasn't on his back. The final straw was with less than 10 seconds left in the match (4 seconds actually), with the match tied at 4 apiece, the ref awarded back points to the Pburg wrestler when no count should have even been given. It was CRAZY! The fans (myself included) went wild. Buddha didn't lose that match but not according to the scoreboard. So now - Pburg is within striking distance with 22. Flashback - Raiders still have that 30. 125lbs - 152lbs seemed like an eternity.
God Bless Mike Cucinotta! Mike stayed cool, collected and focused. All we need is a win and it's over. Mike worked the hell out of his kid and then with 30 seconds left to go in the match - Cuch pinned him! Amen. Paulsboro was on their feet - Pburg "fans" were on their way out the door.
Now, for what should have been the icing on the cake - Greenwald is up. It looked like he and the Pburg wrestler were pretty evenly matched and they traded a couple of take downs. And then the ref reared his ugly head again. Pburg was up 6-4 and all of a sudden we see the ref counting back points. Zach had come down on the mat on his back but that's it, he only landed on his back. He wasn't on his back for any count. And then Zach got the reversal but..... too late. The ref had already awarded the 2 back points (8-4) so when Zach got the 2 for the reversal, it still wasn't enough (8-6). Unbelievable.
So - a day with some very mixed emotions. I feel for the guys that got hosed, I was thrilled to see the new additions to the team and I was really proud of all the fellas that gave it their all. The 2 guys that continue to really impress me are Hodges and Cucinotta. Big Man is showing real poise, maturity and purposefulness on the mat. I'm not going to be surprised when he places at States this year. And Cucinotta...talk about team player. he has worked so hard, done more than his fair share of getting it done and I can't wait to see him at the big show in March.
Tuesday we have the Sectionals at home. First up, Clayton and Haddonfield at 5:30pm and then Paulsboro wrestles the winner at 7:30ish. Bundle up - the windchills will be in the single digits. Oh Joy!
Don't forget - tomorrow - Super Bowl Sunday...Pancake Breakfast in the PHS cafeteria, 8:00am to noon. Come out and support the program. See you there!
And then Niko had to wrestle Luke Grassi. Oy vey. To Niko's credit, he battled all six minutes but Grassi is no slouch. So now, Pburg has 3 points on the board. Next up for his first bout of the season, Josh Kline. Nice to see Josh back out and I'm sure we'll see him get progressively better but he's no where near Match shape yet and he got stuck in the 2nd period. Fine, Pburg now has 9 points.
Justin Sullivan returned to the mat also today and he was next. I was really proud of Justin. No he didn't win but Justin wrestled all 6 minutes. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult that is, especially in a big match like today. So now they have 12 points. It's Hoehn's turn next and it became apparent in this match that somehow the ref was starting to lose it. The man (I'm assuming man, he looked about 12 years old to me) hadn't called stalling all day and trust me, Pburg had been stalling. I'm all for banging kids that aren't wrestling but you can't change your criteria in the middle of a match. Anyway, he hit Ryan with a few calls when Ryan wasn't doing anything the Liners hadn't been doing all day. Whatever - now they have 15. Remember, we still have the 30 we had a life time ago.
The next victim, Matt Funston. Apparently Gentile is still sick (didn't make the trip) so Matt got some more experience. He was doing a good job but once again, the ref decided to get in on the action. he actually hit Matt with a stall call while Matt was on his feet moving forward. It was ridiculous. Not that Matt was winning the match but still, let's not punish the kid for something he didn't do. And so the Pburg score climbs to 19.
We're down to 3 matches now. Do the math. If Buddha wins, just wins, the match is mathematically over. Seems simple enough. Ha! Buddha got screwed. I mean screwed, big time. I know Buddha has had his moments this season but right from the opening whistle, we knew Jeff was here to wrestle. He shot, he was quick and scored right off the bat. Then the ref got involved. Buddha got poked in the eye but hang on, no point is awarded. Without doing second by second recall, let's just say that it got ugly. Buddha got hit with cautions, he got hit with stalling, he had back points counted when he wasn't on his back. The final straw was with less than 10 seconds left in the match (4 seconds actually), with the match tied at 4 apiece, the ref awarded back points to the Pburg wrestler when no count should have even been given. It was CRAZY! The fans (myself included) went wild. Buddha didn't lose that match but not according to the scoreboard. So now - Pburg is within striking distance with 22. Flashback - Raiders still have that 30. 125lbs - 152lbs seemed like an eternity.
God Bless Mike Cucinotta! Mike stayed cool, collected and focused. All we need is a win and it's over. Mike worked the hell out of his kid and then with 30 seconds left to go in the match - Cuch pinned him! Amen. Paulsboro was on their feet - Pburg "fans" were on their way out the door.
Now, for what should have been the icing on the cake - Greenwald is up. It looked like he and the Pburg wrestler were pretty evenly matched and they traded a couple of take downs. And then the ref reared his ugly head again. Pburg was up 6-4 and all of a sudden we see the ref counting back points. Zach had come down on the mat on his back but that's it, he only landed on his back. He wasn't on his back for any count. And then Zach got the reversal but..... too late. The ref had already awarded the 2 back points (8-4) so when Zach got the 2 for the reversal, it still wasn't enough (8-6). Unbelievable.
So - a day with some very mixed emotions. I feel for the guys that got hosed, I was thrilled to see the new additions to the team and I was really proud of all the fellas that gave it their all. The 2 guys that continue to really impress me are Hodges and Cucinotta. Big Man is showing real poise, maturity and purposefulness on the mat. I'm not going to be surprised when he places at States this year. And Cucinotta...talk about team player. he has worked so hard, done more than his fair share of getting it done and I can't wait to see him at the big show in March.
Tuesday we have the Sectionals at home. First up, Clayton and Haddonfield at 5:30pm and then Paulsboro wrestles the winner at 7:30ish. Bundle up - the windchills will be in the single digits. Oh Joy!
Don't forget - tomorrow - Super Bowl Sunday...Pancake Breakfast in the PHS cafeteria, 8:00am to noon. Come out and support the program. See you there!
posted by truraiderfan @ 7:07 PM
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