o'connell wrestlers

Nam Dunbar Leads O’Connell Wrestlers to Third Place Finish

By David Steinbacher
Special to the HERALD
(From the Issue of 2/15/07)

All three diocesan schools turned in some impressive performances at the St. Alban’s Wrestling Invitational. The tournament, now in its 61st year, was held Feb. 9-10. Twenty-eight schools participated in the two-day tournament.
The order of finish was: 1) DeMatha - 236.50, 2) Wyoming Seminary (Pa.) - 215.50, 3) O'Connell - 172.50, 4) St. Benedicts (N.J.) - 166.00, 5) Georgetown Prep - 143.00, 15) Ireton - 64.00 and 18) Paul VI - 48.00.
The Bishop O'Connell Knights were paced by Nam Dunbar (first place at 119 pounds). Dunbar finished 4-0 overall, including three pins and one "tech fall."
Drew Carpenter (third at 145) - 5-1 overall, including two pins.
John Curtin (third at 152) - 5-1 overall, including one "tech fall.”
James Young (fourth at 112) - 4-2 overall, including three pins and one "tech fall."
Kyle Mason (fourth at 125) - 4-2 overall; Tom Baxter (fourth at 160) - 4-2 overall, including two pins; Jonathan Carpenter (fifth at 130) - 3-2 overall;
Mike Winkler (sixth at 189) - 3-3 overall, including one pin; Eric Kurtzke (seventh at 140) - 4-2 overall, including one pin; Robbie Clay (eighth at 135) - 4-2 overall, including one pin.
"I believe that finishing third place overall is as well as we've ever done,” said O’Connell Head Coach Bill Carpenter. “We had a good first day, somewhat of a slow start to the second day and a good finish on the second day."
Bishop Ireton was paced by Tim Dean (first place at 171 pounds). Dean finished 5-0 overall, including three pins. In the process, Dean defeated Mike Aguggia of DeMatha in the fourth of five matches 3-2. Dean had dropped a one point decision to Agguggia in the WCAC Championship one week earlier. Thus it was "sweet redemption" for Dean at St. Alban’s.
Andrew Georgeiff (seventh at 103) - 2-2 overall.
Paul VI Catholic was paced by Alex Soltis (first place at 189 pounds). Soltis finished 4-0 overall, including three pins. He also won the WCAC title one week earlier. "In the championship match, I took some good shots and I was good on my feet today," Soltis said.
Donald Baumgart (seventh at 130) - 3-2 overall, including one pin; Kyle Schrieber (eighth at 215) - 2-3 overall, including two pins.
All three schools will participate in the Virginia Independent Schools State Wrestling Tournament Feb. 16-17.

Mixed Results for Local Basketball Teams
Regarding the high school basketball season, some of the teams are relatively hot and some of the teams are not quite so hot heading into the playoffs.
In recent boys’ action, Paul VI, coached by Levi Franklin, dropped a 61-43 contest to Gonzaga and a 58-40 contest to DeMatha (Feb 6). Currently, the Panthers weigh-in at 16-7 overall (9-5 WCAC).
O'Connell, coached by Joe Wootten, defeated Ireton 69-56 in overtime on Feb. 9.
The Knights outscored the Cardinals 15-2 in the extra period to prevail. The Knights earlier dropped a 56-48 contest to Gonzaga. Currently, O’Connell has a 13-11 overall record (7-9 WCAC).
Carroll, Good Counsel and Ireton are virtual locks for the WCAC play-in bracket. The seventh seed will also be relegated to the "play-in" bracket and that is likely to be either St. Mary's Ryken or O'Connell, depending on how the final week of the season plays out.
Ireton, coached by Mark Vincent, earlier dropped a 67-53 contest to St. John’s, which is, coincidentally, coached by former Ireton head coach Paul DeStefano.