By Rob Potter
ELDRED — December 28, 2004 – The Eldred wrestling team continues to make strides.
As a culmination of a six-year plan, Eldred Central School fielded its first-ever varsity wrestling team in the 2003-2004 season. During that campaign, the Yellowjackets, a Class D team, were defeated by the Washingtonville Wizards, a Class A squad. Only two Eldred wrestlers scored victories in that non-league match.
But things were much closer last Wednesday night when the Wizards traveled to Eldred for a non-league competition. On that evening, six Yellowjacket grapplers – Kyle Bosch, Chuck Chandler, Walter Kreidel, Nick McCormick, Corey Proscia and Mark Thornton – earned victories in their individual matches. At 130 pounds, Thornton pinned Washingtonville’s Dearon Pinossian in 1:00. At 145, Chandler defeated Spencer Casey, 7-2. In the 160-pound match, McCormick pinned Tom Casey in 1:27. At 171, Kreidel defeated Corey Schlobohm, 7-5. In the 215-pound match, Proscia pinned Eric Nelson in 4:43. And at 275 pounds, Bosch defeated J. P. McPhillips, 16-10.
However, Washingtonville (4-7) defeated Eldred in the overall match by a final score of 43-28.
Although the Yellowjackets’ record fell to 0-2 on the season, Coach Joe Rubino is focusing on the positives.
“It was close tonight,” he said. “Our season is going well. We went to a couple of tournaments and all of these guys are working hard, so I’m happy.”
Rubino noted that McCormick “did really well tonight.”
“He got a big win and it kind of pumped everybody up,” Rubino said.
Washingtonville Co-Coach Gary Rissler said that Shad Rissler and Joe Zippilli wrestled well in remaining undefeated on the season. Shad Rissler improved his individual record to 14-0 by pinning Steve Geiger in 1:47 in their 140-pound match. Zippilli pinned Marcus Chandler in 39 seconds in their match at 189 pounds.
“I’m happy with tonight’s results,” said Gary Rissler, who guides the Wizards along with Co-Coach Sparrow Tobin.
Gary Rissler was also impressed with the Yellowjackets.
“They fight hard,” he said of the Eldred grapplers. “They have a great coach and a great athletic director. They are an excellent host.”
Complete results of the match are as follows: 96 pounds – Ryan Black (Washingtonville) won by forfeit; 103 – No contest; 112 – Vinny DeBennedeto (W) defeated Sean Donnelly, 12-4; 119 – Chris Valdez (W) defeated Brian Corcoran, 16-0; 125 – Corey Ferguson (W) defeated Stan Smith, 7-0; 130 – Thornton (E) pinned Panossian in 1:00; 135 – John McCourt (W) pinned Marcio Castellanos in 1:11; 140 – Shad Rissler (W) pinned Geiger in 1:47; 145 – Chandler (E) defeated Casey, 7-2; 152 – Jay Ewing (W) defeated Nick Proscia, 10-0; 160 – McCormick (E) pinned Tom Casey in 1:27; 171 – Kreidel (E) defeated Schlobohm, 7-5; 189 – Zippilli (W) pinned Chandler in :39; 215 – Corey Proscia (E) pinned Eric Nelson in 4:43; 275 – Bosch (E) defeated McPhillips, 16-10.
Notes: The two tournaments to which Rubino referred were the “Battle of the Beach” Tournament, which was held on December 4 at Long Beach, Long Island, and the Cuneen-Doane Tournament, which took place on Dec. 18 in Walton.
In the “Battle of the Beach,” Corey Proscia scored three pinfall victories en route to capturing first place in the 189-pound weight class and Bosch took first place in the 275-pound class, pinning his opponent in the finals in just 14 seconds. Chandler and McCormick placed third in their respective weight classes in the event.
Corey Proscia recorded three pinfall wins at the Cuneen-Doane Tournament. In the 189-pound finals, Proscia then pinned Steve Hally of Saugerties in 4:26.
Geiger earned his first varsity win at the Cuneen-Doane event. Chandler, Kreidel and McCormick all posted victories on Long Island and in Walton.