Back to the mat
FHS?wins season-opener, 48-30, over Barker/Roy-Hart
Trending
Fredonia (1-0) won its season-opening wrestling match Wednesday, 48-30, over Barker-Roy-Hart (0-1), as Dalton Gardner, Hector Colom and Jamison Horch all won by pin while Giovani Russo and Cerick Kristan picked up wins by decisions.
"I'm definitely pleased with the effort top to bottom," Fredonia head coach Joe Santilli said. "We're an extremely young team. We have no seniors and two juniors, so it's mostly sophomores, freshman and an eighth grader. But, all in all, I'm definitely pleased with everyones' effort. It was a good start. (Barker-Roy-Hart) Coach Jones does a nice job. We've been visiting each other, going back and forth, for the last four years, and he does a real nice job with his kids. They're always class acts."
Gardner pinned TJ Alvord in 2:25 at 126 pounds while Colom earned his pin in 27 seconds over Brandon Lindke at 145. At 285, Horch pinned Ben Schwabb in 1:27 while Russo won his match at 132, 6-2, over Brent Bachman. Meanwhile, at 160, Kristan earned a 5-3 overtime win over AJ Schaffer.
"The match at 132 was well wrestled," Santilli said. "They're both outstanding wrestlers and it was a nice win for Giovani. It was a good way to start the season."
Brandon Wallace (120), Lucas Green (138), Jordan Stebbins (182) and Antonio Pagan (113) all won by forfeit for the Hillbillies.
"It's going to be an interesting season," Santilli said. "We lost nine seniors from last year's team, but I'm looking forward to the future and I'm going to keep smiling."
Barker-Roy-Hart's wins came at 152, 170, 195, 220 and 99. Tyler Choate pinned Tyler Winchell in 55 seconds at 152, Murphy Lang earned a 44-second pin of Jonny Skrok at 170, Karson Grover pinned Jack Storm in 5:41 at 195 and Nick Fazzolari pinned Jake Skinner in 5:20 at 220. Trent Choate won by forfeit at 99.
Up next for Fredonia is a pair of weekend tournaments, as part of the team will travel to wrestle in a tournament in Webster while the rest of the team will wrestle at Maple Grove.
"It's generally referred to as a meat grinder," Santilli noted of the Webster tournament, "because the kids are going to get eight to 10 matches in two days, but it'll be good to see where we're at this early in the season."