By Rob Potter
ELDRED — January 13, 2004 – There were plenty of people sitting on the bleachers and cheering Thursday night in the Eldred Central School Gymnasium.
But unlike most winter evenings, those fans were not cheering after a basketball player made a difficult shot from beyond the three-point arc or grabbed a rebound off the backboard.
Instead, the adults and students in attendance were clapping and yelling when a competitor secured a hold or pinned their opponent’s shoulders to the mat.
That was the situation as the Eldred varsity wrestling team hosted its first ever match. However, Monticello spoiled the Yellowjackets’ home debut by posting a 51-30 victory in the OCIAA Division II match.
The Panthers recorded five pinfalls on their way to the win. Monticello is now 2-2 overall and 1-0 in OCIAA.
Eldred (1-1, 1-1 OCIAA) had four pinfalls on the evening. But two forfeit victories for Monticello and victories in two other weight classes proved to be the difference in the contest.
“A few kids did a nice job for us tonight,” Monticello Coach Ed Kaufman said. “Alexis Bruno at 171 [lbs.], Jimmy Conway at 135 and Matt Roberts at 130 all wrestled well.”
Kaufman also praised the performances of Scott Kaplan, who scored a technical fall victory over Nick McCormick at 140 lbs., and Eric Shulman, who pinned Marcus Chandler in their 152 lbs. match.
Recording pinfall wins for the Yellowjackets were Jeremy Feldbauer (125 lbs.), Charles Chandler (145), Corey Proscia (189) and Tim Hallock (215).
Despite the fact that his team lost the match, Eldred Coach Joe Rubino was pleased with the way his team competed.
“I’m really happy,” he said. “This was only our second match and we had four pins. These guys are really working hard and they’re showing a lot of heart.”
Complete results are as follows:
• 96 lb. – Andre Diaz (Monticello) won by forfeit.
• 103 – Stan Smith (Eldred) won by forfeit.
• 112 – Chris Ng (M) won by forfeit.
• 119 – Anthony Ng. (M) pinned Mark Thornton in 1:05.
• 125 – Jeremy Feldbauer (E) pinned Cono Cirone in :29.
• 130 – Matt Roberts (M) pinned Steven Geiger in 1:42.
• 135 – Jim Conway (M) pinned Nick Proscia in 3:26.
• 140 – Scott Kaplan (M) tech. fall over Nick McCormick, 19-4.
• 145 – Charles Chandler (E) pinned Ben Caballero in 3:34.
• 152 – Eric Shulman (M) pinned Marcus Chandler in :50.
• 160 – John Campanero (M) pinned Jeremy DeForge in 3:35.
• 171 – Alexis Bruno (M) defeated Walter Kreidel, 10-7.
• 189 – Corey Proscia (E) pinned Keenan Hall in :41.
• 215 – Tim Hallock (E) pinned Billy DiCarlo in :55.