By Bob Volkert
EASTON — Saturday was supposed to be the day that the Blair Academy wrestling team finally met its match in 16-time Virginia state champion Great Bridge at the fifth annual National High School Coaches Association Final Four of High School Wrestling at Easton Area High School’s 25th Street Gymnasium.
No. 2 Great Bridge (Va.) came into the Final Four with a team that many think is its best of all-time, and many of the experts thought the Wildcats had a legitimate shot at upsetting top-ranked Blair. But it was the Bucs that surprised the estimated crowd of 1,300 as they manhandled Great Bridge 42-13 in the opening round to extend Blair’s winning streak to 110 matches, dating back to Jan. 14, 2000.
Blair won 11 of 14 bouts, including the first six, in gaining momentum in the win. Great Bridge’s Patrick Bond, a three-time Virginia state champion, did manage the biggest win of the match with a 5-2 decision in a marquee bout against Hudson Taylor at 189.
But perhaps overshadowing Blair’s lopsided victory in Round 1 was Easton’s 33-24 victory over Great Bridge in Round 2. While Blair solidified its national No. 1 ranking, Easton did the same with its No. 1 ranking in Pennsylvania.
The Red Rovers, ranked No. 3 nationally by the NHSCA, defeated No. 7 Rio Rancho (N.M.) rather easily 46-19 in Round 1, but they weren’t expected to do quite so well against Great Bridge. Blair cruised past Rio Rancho in the second round 59-12, and then defeated Easton 39-23 in Round 3.
“I’m proud of the effort that we gave today, especially against Great Bridge, “Blair head coach Jeff Buxton said. “Our feeling was that their matchups with us were going to be very difficult and when we got on such a roll, we had great momentum that carried us all the way through the match.”
Several key bouts paved the way for the Red Rovers’ win over Great Bridge. Senior Seth Ciasulli decisioned the NHSCA No. 1 ranked junior, Jordan Frishkorn, 6-4 at 125 pounds; senior Andrew Goldstein defeated defending Virginia state champion Junior Pearman 3-2 at 140; sophomore David Crowell earned an unexpected 13-5 major decision over Tim Hill at 171; and freshman sensation Jordan Oliver outhustled Ironman champion Jayk Cobbs for an 8-3 win at 103.
“I think we wrestled a little bit better against Easton than we did against Blair, “said Great Bridge coach Wayne Martin, who is in the first season of his second stint with the program. “The kids were a little bit better warmed up out there. But again, Easton’s a damn tough program. They have great tradition. You can’t come in here flat-footed and expect to beat them. It’s not going to happen. You’re going to have it handed to you like they did to us. That’s the way it is.”
Easton then went for an upset of Blair in the feature match of the day. Senior Brad Gentzle pulled off a slight upset of Ross Gitomer with a 5-2 decision at 119 to start the match. Ciasulli won a 10-2 major decision over Max Shanaman at 125 to give Easton a 7-0 lead with a deep group of veterans coming up at 130-145. But Josh Oliver surrendered a takedown with 10 seconds remaining as Mario Mason got Blair on the board with a 5-4 win at 130. Senior Alex Krom then beat No. 1-ranked Adam Frey 10-7 at 135 to make it 10-3. But Blair reeled off wins in five of the next six matches to put Easton in a big hole. Jeff Powers’ pin of Jarrid Myers at 275 clinched the win for Blair.
Mason was named the event’s outstanding wrestler for his efforts.
Krom won three bouts on the day to move his career record to 142-20. Krom has posted four wins in the past three days to move past former Easton wrestlers Gino Fortebuono (138 wins), Jack Cuvo (139), Bryan Rizzo (140) and former Penn Stater Jamarr Billman (141) into third place on Easton’s all-time wins list. He is well within reach of Matt Ciasulli’s school record of 152 wins and Josh Haine’s District 11 record of 156 wins at Northampton.
“This time of year as a coach you are never satisfied, “said Easton coach Steve Powell. “But I’m real pleased with the improvements we are making. They are just very coachable right now and they are improving by leaps and bounds.”
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