o'connell wrestlers

O’Connell Wrestlers Finish Second in WCAC Tournament

By David Steinbacher
Special to the HERALD
(From the Issue of 2/8/07)

The Bishop O'Connell Knights turned in an impressive day of wrestling at the WCAC Championships. The tournament was held at DeMatha on Feb. 3.
The order of finish was: 1) DeMatha - 221 team points, 2) O'Connell - 160.5, 3) Good Counsel - 108.5, 4) Gonzaga - 96.5, 5) St. Mary's Ryken - 92.5, 6) McNamara - 73, 7) Paul VI - 65, 8) Ireton - 54 and 9) St. John’s - 48.
"We had a good day,” said O’Connell Head Coach Bill Carpenter. “I thought we could have scored a few more points. We placed seven of our wrestlers in the finals. We've generally finished second or third pretty much every season for the past 20 years or so. One year we finished fourth overall, but in February 2001 we tied DeMatha for the league title."
Four diocesan student/athletes won the gold medal at the annual tournament. O'Connell sophomore Kyle Mason (119) finished 3-0 at the tournament, including a 21-9 "major" decision of DeMatha's Louis Santacroce in the finals. "Kyle did a real good job today," said Carpenter.
O'Connell sophomore Nam Dunbar (125) finished 3-0, including a 12-4 "major" decision of St. Mary's Ryken Drew Willis in the finals. "Nam was good on his feet. He wore the Ryken kid down," said Carpenter.
O'Connell senior Tom Baxter (160) finished 3-0, including a 10-3 decision of DeMatha's Nike Thode in the finals. "Tom had a real good tournament. He stuck with his game plan and beat the DeMatha kid on his feet," said his coach.
Paul VI senior Alex Soltis (189) finished 3-0, including a 14-5 "major" decision of DeMatha's Brad Eden in the finals. First-year Panther Head Coach Tom Healy, who succeeded John Welcher following the 2006 season, said, "Alex wrestled a very smart match. He moved well on his feet and he engineered a number of takedowns."
Soltis, perhaps the top all-around senior athlete at Paul VI, also recorded a first-round pin and a semi-final "major" decision. “I did a ‘half-nelson’ of the O'Connell wrestler and got him onto his back," said Soltis of his quarterfinal victory. Soltis said he hasn’t decided whether he’ll wrestle or play football in college.
Six diocesan student/athletes placed second at the tournament. O'Connell sophomore Jonathan Carpenter (130) finished 2-1, but lost a 5-2 decision to Good Counsel's Daniel Hawvermale in the finals.
O'Connell junior Eric Kurtzke (140) finished 1-1 (he had a first round "bye"), but lost a 14-5 "major" decision to DeMatha's Mike Munno in the finals.
O'Connell senior Drew Carpenter (145) finished 1-1 (he had a first round "bye"), but lost a 9-6 decision to DeMatha's Steve Sargent in the finals. Carpenter had beaten Sargent 4-3 in the O’Connell/DeMatha dual match a month ago.
O'Connell senior John Curtin (152) finished 2-1, but lost a 19-7 "major" decision to DeMatha's Nathan Cortes-Peck in the finals.
Ireton senior Tim Dean (171) finished 2-1. He had two impressive pins, but absorbed a tough 4-3 decision loss to DeMatha's Mike Aguggia in the finals. Stated Ireton veteran head coach Don Dight, "That was only Tim's second loss of the entire season. Tim pinned Aguggia earlier in the season.” Dean also placed second at the prestigious "NOVA Classic."
During the exciting 171-pound championship match, Dean trailed Aguggia 3-0 early in the third period. He trimmed the deficit to 3-1 and then recorded a takedown to tie the match 3-3. With six seconds left in the match, both wrestlers went "off" the mat. The referee placed Dean in the "top" position and Aguggia took the "bottom" position. Had no one scored in the final six seconds the match would have gone to "overtime." But to Dean's chagrin, Aguggia was able to escape with two seconds left to claim victory.
Dean, one of the top wrestlers in Ireton history, said, "I didn't think he was going to have that burst of energy right there. I was thinking that the match would go to overtime and I would then be able to win the match.”
Dean may face Aguggia again this weekend (Feb. 9-10) at the prestigious St. Alban’s Invitational.
Paul VI sophomore Kyle Schrieber (215) finished 2-1, but lost an 8-3 decision to DeMatha's Wil Wilman in the finals. Schrieber, two years younger than Wilman, should be a force in the league for the next two seasons. "Kyle is a very good all-around athlete,” said Healy. “It will be great to have him in the wrestling room for the next two seasons."
Three student/athletes placed third. Paul VI senior Max Benson (125) finished 3-1, including a 10-2 "major" decision of Gonzaga's Matt Villhauer in the consolation finals.
Ireton junior Chris Boucher (152) finished 3-1, including a second period pin of St. Mary's Ryken's Pierce Autry in the consolation finals.
O'Connell senior Evan Malone (171) finished 3-1, including an 11-8 decision of Good Counsel's James Sweet in the consolation finals.
Fourth-place diocesan finishers included O'Connell's James Young (112), Paul VI's Michael Schierer (135) and Ireton's Pat Ryan (215).
For the season, all three diocesan wrestling programs are above .500. O’Connell’s only loss was to DeMatha.