Blair Academy easily defeats second-ranked Great Bridge
Sunday, January 23, 2005
By BRIAN FORTNER
The Express-Times
PALMER TWP. — Given the number of wrestling programs competing across the country, the notion of having the two top-ranked teams in the nation facing off head-to-head is obviously cause for excitement.
Blair Academy removed all suspense early Saturday morning and cruised to a surprisingly easy 42-13 victory over Great Bridge of Virginia at the fifth annual National High School Coaches Association Final Four of Wrestling at Easton’s 25th Street Gym.
The Buccaneers, ranked No. 1 nationally by Amateur Wrestling News, won 11 of 14 bouts in handing No. 2 Great Bridge its first loss of the season.
“This match was a testimony of mental toughness and the will to win, “Blair coach Jeff Buxton said. “We’ve been through some adversity this past week and we managed to come out against a very good Great Bridge team and put on a great performance.”
The Wildcats, winners of 16 of the last 18 Virginia Class AAA state titles, entered the match with a slight psychological edge as Blair was forced to compete without regular 171-pounder Jared Platt.
Platt, who was 14-5 this season and won the 171-pound individual championship at the Bethlehem Holiday Tournament in December, transferred to Randolph High School in New Jersey earlier this week.
“They’re the No. 1 team in the country and it showed, “Great Bridge coach Wayne Martin said. “They were ready to wrestle and they took it to us. Even with going through some adversity this week, they got the job done. I hate wrestling (Blair) right off the bat here. I’d like to get them later in the day — after we get a match or two under our belts.”
The Wildcats were beaten by Blair 43-14 in the 2003 Final Four, but came back to beat Easton 33-23 later in the day.
On Saturday, Great Bridge (12-2) went on to drop a 33-24 decision to the Red Rovers in the afternoon round before defeating Rio Rancho of New Mexico 45-18 in the final session of the day.
The Buccaneers, who extended their dual-meet winning streak to 108 with the win over the Wildcats, got key decisions from Ross Gitomer at 119 pounds and freshman Mario Mason at 130 — weights where Great Bridge was looking for wins.
Gitomer got things started with an 8-5 come-from-behind decision over senior Bryan Lashomb to put the Bucs up 3-0.
Lashomb, a three-time North Carolina state champ who transferred to Great Bridge before this school year, led 5-3 with under a minute remaining in the bout.
Gitomer escaped and, seconds later, spun behind Lashomb and turned him toward his back for the winning four-point play as time ran out.
The Blair senior nipped Lashomb 6-5 en route to a third-place finish at the Ironman Tournament earlier this season.
Mason scored the upset of the day, scoring an impressive 7-4 decision over Wildcats standout Jordan Fishkorn, the No. 6-ranked 125-pounder in the country according to AWN.
The Bucs freshman recorded three takedowns, the last one coming while clinging to a 5-4 lead with eight seconds left in the match.
“They bumped him up to wrestle me to get wins at both weights (130 and 135), “Mason said. “That fired me up. I worked out with him a lot over the years in practice, but I never met him in a match.”
Mason’s win put Blair up 10-0 after three bouts and went a long way toward determining the outcome of the match.
“We didn’t expect to get out to that type of a lead, “Buxton said. “Gitomer came up big and Mason really got the ball rolling. We’ve proven time and time again our ability to come through in big matches.”
National prep champs Travis Blasco and Adam Frey followed Mason with decisions at 135 and 140, respectively, to extend the Bucs’ lead to 16-0.
Blasco outlasted Adam Pittman 13-9 while Frey (15-0) used three takedowns to defeat defending Virginia state champ Junior Pearman 7-5.
Eric Medina made it six wins in as many bouts with a first-period fall over Derek Gallagher at 145.
Unbeaten senior Chris Brown got the Wildcats’ first win of the match with a 32-second fall over Steve Hanzlik at 152.
Brown (23-0), who won Beast of the East and Ironman tournament titles this season, is also a defending state champ and is ranked third in the country at 152.
The highlight bout of the match came at 189 where Great Bridge’s Patrick Bond scored a pair of takedowns to outduel Blair senior Hudson Taylor 5-2.
Bond (27-2), a three-time Virginia state champ, already owned a 6-5 win over Taylor in the 189-pound Ironman finals.
Jim Powers (275) had the Bucs’ other pin while Max Shanaman (125), Tyler Thurgood (160) and Mike Guttilla (171) all won major decisions. Guttilla is wrestling with torn anterior cruciate ligaments in both his knees.
In the second round of matches, the Buccaneers got five pins and a pair of major decisions in a 59-12 blowout of Rio Rancho.
Frey (135), Thurgood (152), Guttilla (160), Wes Rosamilia (171) and Taylor all scored falls for Blair, with Blasco (140) and Kyle Manley (215) earning majors.
Rio Rancho was wrestling a man short. Talented 103-pounder Riley Adamson, an eighth-grader, is ineligible to compete here in accordance to PIAA rules.
The bout was deemed a double forfeit, and both teams were awarded six team points.
Wrestling Gear
