Terra Nova Leads PAL Teams at Colt Classic

Terra Nova varsity wrestlers took third place as a team at the fifth annual Colt Classic held at El Camino High School, February 8th. 45 schools participated in the 24-man bracket tournament. Aptos won the team competition with a score of 163, followed by Merrill West with 155. Terra Nova's score of 140 was the top team score for the Peninsula League, well ahead of 5th place South San Francisco with 114 points and Half Moon Bay with 100.5.

Top placers for the Tigers included Chase Edgington - 140lb, who finished second after pinning his first three opponents and outscoring Figueroa from Christianson in the semifinals. Patrick Palomata – 122lb, also placed second after a close call in the quarterfinals against Andrighetti from Menlo Atherton. After taking Palomata down, Angrighetti engaged in a dangerous series of “suicide rolls” - so called because the wrestler in control rolls over 360 degrees while holding ontp his opponent, placing himself on his back with the opponent on top as they roll. Palomata stopped the roll and held Andrighetti in place on his back, pinning him to advance to semis.

Adam Noce – 285lb took 3rd after overwhelming several opponents with his impressive hammer series moves. Noce's signature pinning sequence starts with wrenching an opponents arm behind his back and then putting in a half Nelson with his free hand. Osvaldo Gazo – 160lb, came in 4th.

Several other Tigers found themselves in the consolation bracket after losing early matches in some tough seeding. Freshmen Sam Nelson -132lb and Danny Borrego-108lb, won their consolation brackets, as did Leo Grabowski -172lb, who lost his first match of the day in sudden death overtime at his first tournament since a bout with pneumonia. Niko Richardson -128lb, fought his way into the finals of the consolation bracket, but lost the match.  While these wrestlers did not place in the top 5, their string of wins in their brackets contributed heavily to the team score.

Overall, the Tigers did a great job, especially against other PAL teams, and they are in position to do very well at the upcoming league championship at El Camino High School on February 22.