Friday’s PIAA state quarterfinal bout was the worst kind for Nazareth’s Joe Caramanica — or any defending state champion, for that matter.
The kind where absolutely nothing goes your way and then you find yourself in overtime and then in a rideout, with the buzz in the Giant Center getting louder by the second.
There were the potential back points against Connellsville’s Josh Martin that were wiped out by a potentially dangerous call in the second period. There was the headlock and apparent takedown that was not credited later in the period. There was another potential takedown not allowed in the third period due to Martin hitting his head on the boards that encircle the floor of this hybrid hockey/basketball arena.
Then there was the scoreless overtime.
And suddenly, for the first time in more than a year, there were questions floating around in Caramanica’s mind instead of answers.
“It got me to thinking, “Caramanica admitted. “It got me thinking that if I lose, all the work I had done all season would have gone down the tubes.”
“When you get some bad breaks early, those are the most dangerous matches, “Nazareth coach Dave Crowell added. “That’s when sometimes you change what you’re doing. But as long as you stay with the wrestling and not worry about all the other things, you should be OK, and he seemed to do that pretty well.”
That was evident in the 30-second tiebreaker.
Despite not having his choice of starting position heading to the rideout, Caramanica remained remarkably poised and rode his opponent the entire 30 seconds, even tilting him for good measure and a pair of back points just before the buzzer in his 3-1 victory at 145 pounds.
“I felt good about going to the rideout either way, “Caramanica said. “I thought I could get out if he chose top and I thought I could ride him if he took bottom.”
All the ingredients for an upset were present — except Caramanica allowing the bad luck to affect him.
As he was walking off Mat 5, another potentially dangerous situation was unfolding on Mat 4.
Northampton’s Joey Ecklof, another defending state champion, was locked in one of those typical no-takedown, no-tilt bouts against Greensburg Central Catholic’s Travis Uncapher in the quarterfinals at 152.
Just like the Caramanica-Martin match, this one also went to a rideout. And just like Caramanica, Ecklof never really was in danger. He was able to choose bottom and get out in four seconds.
Still, it did little to diminish Northampton coach Terry Daubert’s angst.
“It does show you anything can happen, “he said, “but from what I’ve been noticing, there’s not a whole lot of stalling getting called out here. If you’re out there and people don’t want to wrestle and you can’t get a stalling call, then there’s nothing you can do.
“The same thing happened to Chris Wieller (in a 3-0 quarterfinal loss to Trinity’s Kalvin Schultz at 119). He got one call, but never got the second one to get the point.”
Northampton teammate Steve Mytych was awarded a stalling point and, two seconds later, a technical violation point when Red Lion’s Eric Albright locked his hands in their second-round consolation bout at 125. That sent their match to overtime and then to a rideout. Still, Mytych was unable to capitalize after getting reversed with two seconds left in the 30-second tiebreaker.
A favorite to make the finals, Mytych went 1-2 and will come home tonight without a medal.
His loss was just one of many setbacks over the last two days that illustrated how much the gap has closed between District 11 and the rest of the state. Even the close wins by Caramanica and Ecklof underscored that fact.
The results also offered further, definitive proof that there are very few true upsets anymore in the PIAA state tournament.
( Nick Fierro is a columnist for The Express-Times. Write to him at Box 391, Easton, PA 18044-0391 or e-mail him at [email protected]
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