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Health & Fitness

Bulldog Wrestlers Rally to Bite Brunswick

Stow Wrestlers Beat Brunswick!

The Stow Wrestling team traveled to Brunswick Thursday to take on the Blue Devils.  The match was very much in doubt for Stow in a gym filled with cheering fans as senior Jeremy Light took on a good Brunswick opponent at 220 lbs.  Light was barely hanging in there as the second period ticked along.  It was a scene similar to that of Rocky Balboa as depicted in the famous movie as the champ, filled with confidence, stalked and pummeled Rocky with jabs and combinations – and then Rocky floored him.

Things got off to a quiet start, though as Freshman Anthony Valore wrestled at 106 pounds.  In a close match he got caught and gave up a pin in the first period.  Freshman Justin George followed at 113 pounds.  George had a tough opponent and wrestled strong second and third periods, but fell by a 9-5 score.  With Brunswick now leading the team score 9-0, Junior Dylan Hartwig stepped in. 
Hartwig also wrestled a scrappy match, but lost a 9-4 decision giving Brunswick a 12-0 lead in the match.

Stow needed a win to stay in the meet as Senior Mike Edwards wrestled at 126 pounds.  Edwards came through with a dominating performance as he led after one period by a 9-1 score.  He then went for a cradle in the second period and got it for the pin.  At 132 pounds Senior JJ Mcaffery looked to bring the Bulldogs closer.  McCaffery dominated his entire match and put his opponent on his back multiple times with numerous holds.  He did not get the pin, though, but earned a
technical fall to bring Stow close, trailing only 12-11.

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Freshman Jacob Seal wrestled at 138 pounds for Stow.  Seal fought off several pinning attempts in the first period, but was eventually pinned by a good Brunswick wrestler.  Sophomore Hunter Massey wrestled at 145 pounds.  Massey also had a tough opponent.  Massey was on top in the second period when his opponent did a stand up.  Massey lifted him up and brought him back to the mat, but the Brunswick wrestler twisted in such a way that he landed on his own head.  Massey was called for a slam, which was a controversial call.  However, the
momentum swing on the call allowed Brunswick to win a 11-5 decision and the
Blue Devils had  jumped out to a 21-11 lead in the match.

Senior Connor McMahon had dropped to the 152 weight class for this meet.  McMahon scored several takedowns in the first period.  He then worked from the top in the second period and threw a hard cross face cradle, which resulted in a pin for Stow.  At 160 pounds, Freshman Nick Planicka made his varsity debut.   Ironically, both of Nick’s parents who were in attendance are graduates of Brunswick High School.  Planicka wrestled a solid match and earned a
4-0 decision for his first varsity win.  Stow was now only down 21-20 in the team score as the match advanced to the upperweights.

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Sophomore Joe Kollar wrestled 170 pounds for Stow.  Kollar wrestled hard, but lost a close match 3-0.  Senior Troy Steiger followed at 182 pounds.  Steiger also wrestled well, but came up short several times in battles for takedowns as he lost a 9-5 decision.  Brunswick had pulled ahead again 27-20.

Stow Junior Gage Finegan who is having a very strong season showed why again.  Finegan led 4-1 after one period, but appeared to be very much in control.  He then went for the pin and got it in the middle of the second period.

Stow had never led in the team score and trailed 27-26 as the match entered the 220 pound weight class.  Stow was sending its 220 pounder, Senior Dan Garner, up to heavyweight leaving Senior Jeremy Light to step in at 220. The competition, Brunswick’s heavyweight and another wrestler, had both weighed in at about 215 pounds.  This was something Stow coach Randy Jenkins had taken note of.

Brunswick, seeing that they could secure the team win with a pin, decided to send the heavyweight wrestler out at 220 pounds to face Light.  The team match hung in the balance and the Brunswick wrestler was an obvious fan favorite as the home
crowd starting chanting his name looking for the pin.  The first period saw Light counter his aggressive opponent, but he was eventually taken down and Brunswick went hard for the pin.  Light managed to survive the first period, but the situation looked very precarious.  Light then surrendered a quick escape in the second and the Brunswick fans cheered louder as their wrestler moved in the kill. 

And then it happened, the Rocky Balboa moment.

With tension very high in the gym and the Brunswick crowd cheering and chanting, out of nowhere, Jeremy Light shot a picture perfect double leg takedown.  He lifted his Brunswick opponent about 5 feet up off the mat and planted him down right on his back. 

The Brunswick fans were stunned.  The Brunswick wrestler was stunned.  The referee was stunned.

The Stow crowd went nuts. 

Light held his opponent down flat for about 40 seconds.  It appeared to everyone from Stow that it was a pin, but no hand slap came from the referee.  With about 10 seconds left in the second period the Brunswick wrestler worked off his back but was now exhausted.  The match went back and forth in the third period with Light eventually losing a 12-7 decision.  But he had won a
moral victory and given Stow a chance to win the meet as Senior Dan Garner
stood ready to go get a pin and a team win for Stow.

However, Stow coach Randy Jenkins would add his own twist to the match.  Jenkins had noticed the weight of Brunswick’s heaviest wrestlers.  It turns out that to qualify to wrestle heavyweight, one must weigh at least 217 pounds.  Jenkins pointed this out and was correct.  The result was a forfeit by Brunswick to Garner and 6 points for Stow.  A hard fought and exciting 32-30 victory was won for the Bulldogs.  The difference in the match was that Stow had scored three pins along with the forfeit and only surrendered two pins to Brunswick.

The Bulldogs will compete this weekend in the Len Pariano Tournament at Midpark High School.  They will then look to continue their winning ways when the travel to Hudson next Thursday.

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