By Rob Potter
LIBERTY — February 9, 2010 — After being honored prior to Friday night’s Section IX Division IV wrestling match versus the visiting Chester Hambletonians, Liberty seniors Josh Beach and Hector Torres recorded pinfall victories in their respective matches.
At 112 pounds, Torres pinned Chester’s Brendan Long in a time of 3 minutes, 30 seconds. In their 285-pound match, Beach pinned Chester’s Guepy Georges in 1:01.
In addition, Liberty’s Andrew Martinez defeated the Hambletonians’ J.R. Felice, 4-3, in a thrilling triple-overtime bout at 171 pounds and Liberty’s Matthew Rourke pinned Chester’s Brendon Rooney at 1:49 of their 160-pound match.
However, Chester defeated the Indians in the overall match by the final score of 52-21.
At 103 pounds, Chester’s Chris Terrace pinned Liberty’s Dylan Blackwell. At 135 pounds, Chester’s Luis Quiles defeated Liberty’s Vincent Webbe, 18-7.
Hambletonians Phil Rivera, Steven Hurley, Travis Mann, John Barberi, Phil Valastro, John Wilson and Justin Delgado earned forfeit victories in their respective weight classes.
“This is our first year as a varsity program,” Chester Coach John Olive said. “Some of these guys are first-year wrestlers. They are doing well and this is a learning experience.”
Olive added that five of the Hambletonian grapplers – Felice, Long, Mann, Quiles and Terrace – all have a very good chance of qualifying for the upcoming Section IX tournament.
Liberty Coach John Lennon praised all of the members of his team for their performance in the match.
“Our guys wrestled really good tonight,” he said.
In the pre-match ceremony, Torres presented a flower to his father, Hector Torres Sr., and Beach presented a flower to Daisy Brewer, who accepted it on behalf of Beach’s father, Donald Boyd.
Team mother Jeanie Johnson was also honored by Lennon, Assistant Coach Dan Ratner and the Liberty wrestlers prior to the first match of the evening.