By Rob Potter
ELDRED — January 10, 2006 – Two late pinfall victories helped visiting Rondout Valley defeat Eldred in Friday night’s Section IX, Division II wrestling match.
RV (4-1, 4-1 Div. II) had opened up a small lead with victories in the lower weight classes, but Eldred (3-2, 3-1 Div. II) closed the gap with a decision victory by Nick McCormick at 160 pounds and a pinfall win by Jeremy DeForge at 171 pounds.
But at 189 pounds, the Ganders’ Kyle Donnelly pinned Eldred’s Marcus Chandler and at 215 pounds, RV’s Josh Donnelly pinned Eldred’s Mike Mattarazzo.
Those two wins allowed the Ganders to take a 41-27 lead. A forfeit victory by Kevin Houghtaning at 275 pounds gave RV a 47-27 victory over the Yellowjackets.
In addition to DeForge and McCormick, Brian Corcoran, Sean Donnelly and Nick Proscia recorded wins for the Yellowjackets. Corcoran received a forfeit win at 125 pounds, Sean Donnelly defeated Sam Fox, 4-3 in their 119-pound match and Proscia pinned Keith Widmann in their 145-pound match.
RV’s Greg Solcberg earned a forfeit win at 103 pounds.
“It was an exciting match,” RV Coach Alfonso Favata said. “Most of the [individual] matches were close and competitive.”
Favata noted that he has a relatively young team that is steadily improving as the season moves along.
Eldred Coach Mike Bryant was a bit disappointed with the loss, but pleased with the effort put forth by his wrestlers.
“If we could have done a couple of things differently, the outcome might have been different,” he said. “But I have a team that works very hard and I am proud of these guys.”
The complete results are as follows: 96 pounds – no contest; 103 – Greg Solcberg (RV) won by forfeit; 112 – Jordan Smith (RV) pinned Chris Mattarazzo at 3:02; 119 – Sean Donnelly (E) defeated Sam Fox, 4-3; 125 – Brian Corcoran (E) won by forfeit; 130 – Sam Allen-Falcone (RV) defeated Evan Laput, 15-0; 135 – Steven Temple (RV) pinned Stan Smith at :43; 140 – Evan Olson (RV) defeated Steven Geiger, 6-2; 145 – Nick Proscia (E) pinned Keith Widmann; 152 – Barton Brooks (RV) defeated Walter Kreidell, 7-2; 160 – Nick McCormick (E) defeated Joe Widmann, 6-4; 171 – Jeremy DeForge (E) pinned Codi Conklin at :51; 189 – Kyle Donnelly (RV) pinned Marcus Chandler at 4:50; 215 – Josh Donnelly (RV) pinned Mike Mattarazzo; 275 – Kevin Houghtaning (RV) won by forfeit.