Terra Nova's first home dual meet of the season ended well but brought mixed results for the Tigers.
The Junior Varsity fought hard but in the end, the team lost 30-41. The score, however, is only part of the story. In the first contest of the night, 120 lb freshman, Michael Pitts, fought to a tie, forcing the match into sudden-death overtime, where his opponent achieved the first take down for the win. Juniors, Louis Roth – 145lbs and Tsubasa Borissoff – 182lbs both won their matches by pins in the second round. In the last match of the JV contest, 220lb sophomore, Richard Hildalgo, returned to the mat for the first time this season after having surgery. It was a close, fast paced, exciting match that ended with a 3rd round pin by the wrestler from El Camino. Of the rounds that were contested, Terra Nova lost 4 and won 2. Both teams lost several points to forfeited matches. Three of Terra Nova's forfeits were due to its JV wrestlers filling in at varsity for injured teammates, and while they were missed by the rest of the JV squad, they helped the varsity on to team victory.
The varsity meet began with an amazing win by freshman, Danny Borrego, who beat his opponent by major decision, 16-2. Danny wrestles in the 108lb weight class, but he weighs about 90lbs. This puts him at a weight disadvantage of up to 18 pounds – which may not sound like so much, but to put that in perspective it's about the same percentage of weight difference as a 165lb wrestler facing one who weighs 200lbs. Other wins for the Tigers included a strong performance by freshman, Sam Nelson - 132lbs, who bested his opponent 9-2. Senior, Iakona Simpliciano - 154lbs, and juniors, Dante Campagna – wrestling up a weight class at 182lbs, and Ryan McGannon -147lbs, won on points as well. McGannon trailed El Camino's Reiche 2-4 until the final, nail-biting seconds of the third round, when he was able to reverse the spent Colt for 2 points and hold him with a shoulder on the mat just long enough for 3 near fall points at the buzzer.
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OJ Gazo – wrestling up a weight class at 160lbs, dominated his match, pinning El Camino's Dominguez in the 3rd round after outscoring him by 11 points. Junior, Chase Edgington – 138lbs, exploded off of the whistle and pinned the Colt's Zapatta in the first minute of the first round. Junior, Leo Grabowski – 172lbs, pinned his opponent in the second round after an incredible feat of strength as he lifted his 170lb opponent over his shoulders in the Iranian position and stood up – and stayed standing, holding the guy upside down, by his ankles long enough to figure out what to do with him that was still a legal move. Dumping him over on his head would have violated throwing rules and resulted in a disqualification. Grabowski put the required knee down and tossed the Colt over.
The final team score was 52-12. Terra Nova's varsity is now 2-0 in league duals and will face off against South San Francisco on Thursday, January 30th at Terra Nova. The dual will begin with the Lady Tigers facing off against the Warriors at 6PM.
