Panthers split bouts against Pearl River

The Panthers played host to the Pearl River Pirates last Tuesday in an exciting dual meet where they split the wrestled bout with the Panthers taking home victories in 5 of 9. The final score was 51-34 in favor of the Pirates with 30 of their points coming by way of 5 Edgemont forfeits.

The match started out at 145 pounds where Edgemont junior Jack McCormack controlled things from start to finish, earning a 10-0 major decision over Nick Simeti. At 152, Ross Kantor was caught by surprise and fell to the Pirates? Rob Gullo.

We then skipped up to 220 pounds where team win-leader senior Danny Kornberg took the mat for Edgemont. Kornberg came away with another dominant performance and delivered a big pin and his 30^th victory of the season.

Wrapping back around to the lightweights, first up was eigth-grader Kyle Aslanian at 99 pounds. Kyle wrestled a tight match against Pearl River?s James Kelly before ultimately getting pinned at 4:42. Kyle?s brother Tyler Aslanian accepted a forfeit for Edgemont at 106, before Riki Mistry took the mat against Pearl River?s star John Muldoon at 113.

Muldoon lost to Trey Aslanian two weeks earlier in the finals of the Shoreline Tournament, but today he would take home the win. Trey Aslanian wrestled next, up at 120 pounds for the day. He made quick work of Tom Abrahamson earning the fall in a quick 14 seconds.

The next two matches were also quick wins for the Panthers as they continued to look strong in the lighter half of their line-up. First sophomore Will Graybeal continued his marked improvement at 126 pounds, and pinned Pearl River?s Pat Scanlon at 1:38. Fellow sophomore Colin Hopkins followed suit at 132 pounds, scoring a takedown, a set of back points and a pin over the Pirates? Liam O?Hagan, all in 1:06.

The match ended with senior Pete Berman at 138 pounds. Pearl River?s Steve Moreno capitalized on a slight mistake by Berman in the first period to earn a takedown. This proved to be the difference in the match as Berman quickly escaped and two traded escapes in the second and third periods to end up a with a final score of 3-2 in Moreno?s favor.

All-in-all the Panthers wrestled hard against the strong Division 1 opponent and continue to improve. Next up for Edgemont is a League Match against Hastings on Thursday, January 19^th.