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By Alex Frazier
For Norristown, its’ been an all too familiar scenario.
On three or four occasions this year, the Eagles have been the recipient of numerous forfeits. While that may make the score look convincing, it doesn’t do much in the way of making the wrestlers any better.
In Thursday’s match against visiting Wissahickon, the Trojans forfeited seven matches, handing the Eagles 42 of their 51 points.
Of the seven matches wrestled, Wissahickon actually won four, but it certainly didn’t make up the deficit as Norristown rolled to a 51-19 victory.
“We did pretty well in the matches we actually wrestled,” said Wissahickon 215-pounder Brian Corliss. “We did a lot better than last year. Last year we only had 15 points. We should be looking good down the road.”
There were some potentially good matchups had Andre and Aubrey Watson wrestled for the Trojans, but both were injured. As a result, Brandon Parker and Brett Harner only got to walk out on the mat and have their hand raised. Joey Pierce might have had a good workout had Sean Saunders been able to wrestle, but he was out sick. A couple of other ineligible wrestlers might have made a difference too.
That was the story of what could have been.
“Maybe if it was next week we might have a good dual with them,” said Wissahickon coach Jim Swiggard. “It’s terrible luck. We’re real banged up.”
Two of the better matches of the night came at 112 and 215.
Norristown’s Tyree Gardner and Dave Yannes had met before in the Norristown wrestling room over the summer, but never when it counted.
Gardner was expecting a tough match, perhaps tougher than he got.
“I was looking forward to this match,” said Gardner. “Coach wanted me to match up with him to see how I was improving.”
One thing Gardner has improved upon is his single leg which he used twice en route to a 5-1 decision.
“I work on singles, low singles, more than any other thing,” he said. “It’s worked for me in the past. If I improve on it, it will work better in the future.
Gardner has been wrestling 112 for three years now and this year has been more of struggle to make the weight.
Norristown coach Mark Harner was pleased that he controlled his aggressiveness and didn’t make any mistakes.
“He didn’t get over-aggressive,” he said. “He was patient. In a couple of matches he’s forced stuff. I was happy with the mental aspect.”
“In practice he seemed much better than what he was,” said Gardner, “but he gave me a good fight.”
At 215 Wissahickon’s Brian Corliss defeated Tyler Letrinko, 3-1. A first-period takedown, with just three seconds left, made the difference.
“That’s pretty much my go-to, the front headlock,” said Corliss. “I’ve been trying to work on my offense a little more.
“It was a good match. Letrinko is a real good fighter. I was expecting a tough match coming out here. I was happy with myself, but I’ve been out with an injury for a while so it was nice to get back on the mat.”
It was Corliss’ third match back after injuring his ankle.
“It felt good to get back on the mat and wrestle somebody that was a quality opponent,” said Corliss. “It’s always good to go against a good kid.”
Of those that wrestled for the Trojans, Swiggard was most pleased with Brennan Weiss, who countered Charles McLean’s takedown in the second period to win 3-1 at 130.
He’s looking great,” said the coach. “He does not get tired. He wrestled well. He had probably the most quality opponent.”
Dan Schureuren had to come from 5-1 deficit to pin his opponent over last weekend, but after a scoreless first period, he rolled over the Eagles’ Joe Rowland 10-0.
“He looked tough,” said Swiggard, who also complimented Nate Phillip’s pin at 119.
Harner had good things to say about Doug Forlano, who moved up from 125 to 135 to wrestle Dante D’Ambrosio. After taking him down, Forlano slapped on a crossface cradle and showed him the lights in 1:22.
And even though he lost, Larry Gordon put up a good fight against Wissahickon’s Paul Wisloski at 171 before falling 8-6.
It was his first match of the year after healing from a broken hip.
“He was gassed from about a minute into the match,” said Harner.
Norristown 51, Wissahickon 19
160—Joey Pierce (N) won by forfeit
171—Paul Wisloski (W) dec. Larry Gordon, 8-6
189—Matt Grill (N) won by forfeit
215—Brian Corliss (W) dec. Tyler Letrinko 3-1
285—Marcus Robbins (W) won by forfeit
103—Zach Fuentes (N) won by forfeit
112—Tyree Gardner (N) dec. Dave Yannes 5-1
119—Nate Phillip (W) pinned Nick Saldano 2:44
125—Dan Schureuren (W) major dec. Joe Rowland 10-0
130—Brennan Weiss (W) dec. Charles McLean 3-1
135—Doug Forlano (N) pinned Dante D’Ambrosio 1:22
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