Kennett shows youth as Indians pin down a win
By Dave Conard, Sports Editor KennettTimes.com
KENNETT SQUARE—Everybody has heard the phrase “That’s why they play the games.” Which generally refers to a contest having a surprise out come or exceeding the expectations of those in attendance.
Wednesday night’s clash for bragging rights of the Route 1 corridor between Kennett and Unionville would fall into the surprise outcome category.
By all accounts, leading up to the annual Ches-Mont meeting of two of the closest high schools geographically in the state, the match should have been an epic knock down drag out war.
In a prelude to a pattern that emerged through out the tilt, Unionville got six points out of the gate as senior Tyler Bowman pinned Brandon Ropp with 1:15 left in regulation when Ropp opened himself up trying to turn Bowman over.
“We really focus on going for the pin,” said Indians head coach Chris Matz. “We are trying to six points out of every match. Sometimes it can bite us when we risk position trying to go for the fall, but we teach pour guys to be aggressive.”
Once such instance occurred in the 170 pound match when Unionville senior John Hartz, who was ahead in the count by a 14-2 margin tried to pin freshman Rudy Perez, who quickly flipped Hartz and came within a whisker of recording the fall.
Blue Demon fans react to Cory Tomasetti's pin of Steve Annan at 220 pounds
“I was very happy with the way Rudy battled there,” said Kennett head coach Tyrone Johnson, in his 29th season. “Tonight was pretty much an old fashioned butt whooping, but Rudy did a great job along with Cory (Tomasetti) who got a fall against a very good opponent. We are very young and it showed a bit tonight as we were missing three starters.”
Unionville (4-0, 3-0 league), which recorded nine pins on the night, got a sensational effort again by senior captain Scott Seidenberger who put on a clinic in a 12-1 win over Josh Massi, whose only point came as Seidenberger allowed him to escape intentionally.
In a pivotal bout that sealed the win for the Indians, freshman Ian Larson showed his maturity as he recorded a pin at the 3:14 mark after trailing early in the match 2-0 and working with a 2-1 deficit at the time of the fall.
“He was tough, I just had to stay focused,” said Larson. “I already heading leg and he gave me his head there and I was able to take advantage of it. It was awesome having every body on there feet yelling and screaming, our team is so supportive, this so amazing compared to middle school, it is at an entirely different level, it is so much fun.”
In a rapidly paced match, Indians senior Perry Hopkins wasted no time finishing the “pin fest” as he took Kennett junior Erich Werner to the mat at the 2:42 mark to close out the 67-9 win.
“They just simply outwrestled us tonight, I thought it would be a much closer match,” added Johnson. “They got the momentum and it became a pin fest.”
“Our guys are very competitive,” added Matz. “Once a guy gets a pin, the next guy want to get there faster, it’s a healthy rivalry within our team and it really gets them fired up.”
Kennett senior Tim Smith battles against Connor Reilly in a 160 pound clash
Scoring by weight class
195-Tyler Bowman (U) pinned Brandon Ropp (K) at 4:45 6-0
220-Cory Tomasetti (K) pinned Steve Annan (U) at :32 6-6
285-Will Hart (U) pinned Hernan Esparza (K) at :52 12-6
106- Bobby Murray (U) receives forfeit 18-6
113-Aiden Walsh (U) pinned Aidan Shaw (K) at 1:13 24-6
120-Bobby Bender (K) defeated Josh Hammaker (U) 7-6 24-9
126-Scott Seidenberger (U) defeated Josh Massi (K)12-1 28-9
132-Mike Caldwell (U) defeated Jose Flores (K) 8-5 31-9
138-Ian Larson (U) pinned Tristian DiCicco at 3:14 37-9
145-Zach Pfeifer (U) pinned Colton Chew (K) at 1:28 43-9
152-Brian Boyle (U) pinned Aaron Hampton at 1:28 49-9
160-Connor Reilly (U) pinned Tim Smith (K) at 2:35 55-9
172-John Hartz (U) pinned Rudy Perez (K) at 3:40 61-9
182-Perry Hopkins (U) pinned Erich Werner (K) at 2:42 67-9
