Subscribe
Community
Pin masters
La Plata starts SMAC season with a win
Friday, Dec. 11, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by REID SILVERMAN
La Plata's Jason Jennings pinned Leonardtown's Andrew Duncanson in the third period at 125 pounds.
|
E-Mail This Article
As the Leonardtown Raiders earned momentum in Tuesday night's SMAC-opening match with the visiting La Plata Warriors with an overtime victory in the 119-pound weight class — taking a brief 9-6 lead — it was the Warriors who showed why they have been a dominant force in SMAC over the past five years.
After the overtime defeat, La Plata went on to win the next four bout by way of pin to take a commanding 30-9 lead en route to its 45-24 victory to improve to 1-0 on the season.
La Plata's Jason Jennings (125-pound weight class) started the streak of four pins with his third-period pin over Andrew Duncanson. Jennings held a 14-1 lead before getting the fall.
"It definitely feels good," Jennings said of the team's first win, "but we definitely need to work a lot more. … It didn't feel right for me because I was [tired], and I need to work a little harder. … But, we have been practicing for a long time, and we were able to pull out a good win tonight. "
"Nobody panicked or got nervous about it," La Plata head coach Todd Sharp said of Leonardtown's early-match lead, "and we came back as a team. … Everyone has to carry their load and do their job. If someone happens to have a bad night, the other guy's have to pick him up."
Jennings' pin was followed by pins from teammates John Thomas (130) and Daniel Brannon (135), both coming in the first period, and Nick Romero (140) with a second-period pin, respectively.
"A lot of us were kind of nervous coming into tonight because a few of us are new, but it feels good to get this win," Romero said. "… I think [the four pins] boosted our confidence to the max."
Leonardtown (1-2, 0-1 SMAC) took the lead early in the match with back-to-back wins as Alex Truitt (112) earned a second-period pin.
Leonardtown's Sam Corey and La Plata's Dylan Dull wrestled to what proved to be one of the more exciting matches of the night at 119. Down 7-2 during the second period, Corey fought back and tied the bout at 10 with only 20 seconds remaining.
Soon after, Corey wrestled Dull down for a 2-point takedown early in the overtime period, giving the Raiders a 9-6 lead.
"I have been trying to work hard in practice," Corey said. "I have just had some great workout partners that have been pushing me hard, so I have been able to keep my conditioning levels high so I can continue at the end of matches."
"We fell a little flat," Leonardtown head coach Dave Cummins said, "but La Plata is a good team, not to make any excuses. You have to give them their respect."
La Plata (1-0, 1-0) starts the season strong after defeating one of the assumed top teams in the conference this year, and with that looks to continue the trend as the conference season continues.
"[Leonardtown] was predicted to be one of the better teams, and I believe that," Romero said. "They gave us a good match, but our guys, we just worked hard and got the win."
jmmcray@somdnews.com
North Point wins
Tuesday, in the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference opener for both clubs, their disparity took on magnifying proportions –– even for a matchup of opponents coming and going –– as the North Point Eagles made easy work of the visiting Calvert Cavaliers, 67-12.
North Point (6-2, 1-0), which tied for league runner-up honors last year with a 10-2 mark and qualified for the Class 2A-1A South regional duals, claimed 12 of the 14 bouts with eight pins, a major decision, two victories by forfeit and by capturing the only intriguing clash of the night.
Coming off a year where it finished a fourth-place 8-4 in the SMAC right behind the trio of second-place teams, Calvert (4-6, 0-1) saw North Point capture the opening 11 bouts to explode out to a 61-0 command.
Calvert did not score until tallying back-to-back pins in two of the final three weight classes.
"We've been working hard to condition, and I think we really out-conditioned them," North Point 152-pound standout Tyler Schirf said. "We're working to be mentally strong and to stay off our back, and I think we did a good job of that tonight. Everybody was in high spirits. Nobody wanted to break that chain of pins. Even our 103-pounder [Kenny Ashline] got his taste of victory, so I was pretty happy about that."
North Point pins, starting at 125. Josh Moseley began the flurry with a submission just a second before the first-period buzzer sounded.
Then Darryl Icenhower (130) and Schirf's younger brother, Collin, (135) registered quick pins in 22 and 44 seconds, respectively.
