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Things went much as expected when Jonathan Law played host to Foran High in the James Richetelli Sr. Gymnasium on Wednesday night.
“We wrestled okay,” Law coach Matt Schoonmaker said after Foran left Devon with a 62-13 victory. “Our wins at 113 and 152 were what I expected. Foran has numbers with talent.”
Coach Dave Esposito’s Lions won 7-of-9 bouts on the mat.
“I love this team,” Esposito said. “We have the luxury to be two and three wrestlers deep in some weights. I know I can run any one of them out there and get a good effort.”
The Lions were awarded forfeits at 106 pounds (Anthony DiPietro), 170 (K.J. Pokornowski), 182 (Umer Khan), 195 (Billy Ives) and 220 (Nolan Bannon). Law took a forfeit win at 132 pounds (Cody Malin).
At 113, Law’s Teagan McCourt won a 4-3 decision over Tanish Joshi.
McCourt led 2-1 after one period. In an action-packed second two-minute frame, Joshi closed within 3-2. After fighting off possible back points at 1:11, Joshi looked for a reversal but McCourt used his hips to maintain control at the 35-second mark.
From the bottom, McCourt stepped over at 1:25 to lead 4-3. Three restarts later, he brought Joshi back to the mat with two seconds left to earn the win.
Kyle Pokornowski pinned Law’s Dylan Benedetti in 1:28 of their 120-pound match.
“It was two freshman who are going to be good,” Schoonmaker said. “I coached Kyle when he was younger. He has more experience and it showed.”
Foran’s Jordan Lang took the score to 18-3 with a win by fall in 2:34 at 126 pounds over Colin Myers. Lang led 9-2 after one period, as Myers twice fought off his back to extend the bout.
At 138 pounds, the Lions’ Tyler Stanko was in control throughout his 17-0 win by technical fall over Alex DeLorio. He led 5-0 after one period, 10-0 after two before the match was halted with 11 seconds remaining.
Foran’s Ethan Edmondson and Law’s Asaiah Rodriguez met at 145 pounds.
Rodriguez took a 4-1 lead with a pair of takedowns, before he let Edmondson up with 45 seconds left in the first. Edmondson blocked a shot attempt and the margin held. For the second period, Rodriguez escaped early to make it 5-2. Edmondson scored a takedown at the 36-second mark to close within 5-4 after two.
A quick reversal to open the final period gave the Lion a 6-5 lead. He added two back points at :56 and three with :14 on the clock to win 11-5.
Law’s Shayne McCourt led 8-0 and 12-0 before winning a 14-3 decision against Mike Gordano.
It was 14-0 after a McCourt reversal when Giordano escaped and added a fast takedown with one minute remaining. He looked to turn McCourt at :50 and again at :23, but McCourt kept his shoulders off the mat.
The Lions’ Tim Fitzgerald won by 3:12 fall over Antonio Rosado at 160 pounds. It was 5-0 Fitzgerald when Rosado looked to shoot from the neutral position to open the second period. He got in deep, but Fitzgerald used his legs to earn the two-point takedown and turned it into a pin.
At heavyweight, Foran’s Phillip Boyles turned Ashley Rodriguez three times to build a 10-0 lead after one period. He got the pin at 3:04 to close out the scoring.
With the forfeits, the teams used the extra time to wrestle four exhibition matches.
Foran’s Kyle Pokornowski pinned Colin Myers, Law’s Cody Malin pinned Mark Fitzgerald, Foran’s Mike Melillo pinned Alex DeLorio, the Lions’ Reilly Barry pinned Antonio Rosado and Damien O’Conner pinned Ashley Rodriguez.