MOUNT MARKHAM – Surrendering essentially 24 team points in every single dual meet they wrestle – due to holes in the lineup – Sherburne-Earlville did not let this slow them down as they rolled over their competition this past weekend for a 5-0 first place finish at the Mustang Duals.
With wins over Otselic Valley, Holland-Patent's A and B team, Poland, and a revenge win over Mount Markham, the Marauders found ways to persevere through the adversity of the weekend to win the eight team dual meet tournament.
“We were 5-0 on the weekend, but you have to remember we are giving up 24 points every match to forfeits
Round 1: Sherburne-Earlville took on fellow Chenango County team Otselic Valley in what proved to be a lopsided matchup – with the Marauders defeated the OV Vikings by a score of 48-18. In the early goings of the dual, OV and S-E actually exchanged blows – S-E's Jason Price at 113 pounds, grabbed an early victory over Gordon Marshall by pin at 3:13 taking the early score to 6-6. Following the tie, the Vikings snagged another victory when Micah Lyon pinned Joe Straight in just :46 at 120 pounds for the 12-6 lead over S-E. Barring the one additional forfeit surrendered from S-E at 138 pounds, the Marauders then proceeded to win seven of the last eight matches – with six of the seven coming by way of pins. Earning pins in the dual were S-E's Mike Doeberl 126, Jordan Zimmerman 145, Myrick Elrod 152, Bailey Walzer 160, Adam Aldrich 170, Colby Spavin 220, and Walter Kiehn 285.
Round 2: Sherburne-Earlville (1-0 on the day) advanced to face off against Poland – to which another thrashing was in place as the S-E Marauders snagged the easy 42-12 victory. Jumping out to a quick start in the dual, Jason Price and Joe Straight, at 113 pounds and 120 pounds respectively, each earned pins to take the 12-0 lead. After dropping a match at 126 – as Fred Amacher of Poland caught Mike Doeberl in a pin at 1:50 – the Marauders marched on once again to dominate the second half of the dual, winning four straight matches. 145 pounder Keith Rood started the momentum up after the 126 pound loss, with a win by pin over Poland's Jesse Johnson at 4:42. A forfeit at 152 and 170 pounds, coupled with a win from Ethan Furner at 160 pounds (pin :33), and a 220 pound Tanner Campbell win by pin at 1:59 – sealed the win for S-E to move to 2-0 on the day.
Round 3: Sealing the deal for S-E to advance to essentially the semifinals of the Mustang Duals was one more easily won dual – as due to trying to reach an eight team tournament – Holland-Patent assembled a 'B' team consisting of essentially their junior varsity squad which when faced with S-E lost miserably by a team score of 36-6. Due to the lack of numbers, there was no match wrestled at 120, 126, 132, 182, 195, 285, 99, or 106 pounds. Otselic Valley would earn their lone six points with a win by forfeit at 138 pounds. With four true matches in the dual – S-E claimed all for themselves with four consecutive pins at 145, 160, 170, and 220 pounds. Earning these four pins – all of which came in the first period – were: Jordan Zimmerman at 145 pounds over Nate LaForest at 1:08; Tom Lyons at 160 pounds over Matt Pianella at 1:35; Caleb Hill at 170 pounds over Nick Fassett at 1:16; and Colby Sparin at 220 pounds over Caleb Correlli at 1:30. S-E, 3-0 on the day thus far, then advanced to the semifinals to have a rematch dual with the home team Mount Markham.
Round 4: S-E had previously lost to Mount Markham the very first dual meet of the season by a team score of 39-36 – however, some handily reshuffling of the starting lineup and a lucky coin toss, allowed S-E head coach Bim Palmer, and S-E assistant coach Brian Hicks to allow the Marauders their best chance of a rematch win.
“They beat us the first match this year, but since then we picked up our 113 pounder Jason Price who is a seventh grader and Vinny Albertina who is back in the lineup,” said coach Brian Hicks. “This was like the semi finals basically, we redid our whole lineup, we told everybody, 'we have to first win the toss, then here is what were going to do.' And they (Mount Markham) had no clue what to do. We got on a roll, and we won 42-28.”
Starting the dual at 120 pounds, S-E suffered an early loss by pin, something they instantly matched at 126 pounds when Mike Doeberl was able to pin Lance Hibbard – drawing the match to 6-6. Following no matches at 132 and 138 pounds, S-E suffered a loss by a score of 9-1 when Jake Albors defeated Zimmerman – taking the score to 10-6. It was then that Ethan Eldred stepped onto the mat for the Marauders at 152 pounds. Eldred earned the win by pin at 1:28 over Tom Coffin, a pin that sparked five additional win by pins for S-E as they clawed their way to a 42-10 team lead. Each pin coming within the first two periods as: Vinny Albertina 160 pounds, Bailey Walzer 170 pounds, Caleb Hill 182 pounds, Alex Thompson 195 pounds, and Tanner Campbell 220 pounds, each would would grab a pin.
“That pretty much ended it, that was the momentum swinger. Plus it was in Mount Markham, our whole mat was just surrounded by people, we just got on a roll,” said coach Hicks.
The shocked Mount Markham team was able to recover to take a forfeit and two pins at 285 pounds and 113 pounds – however, they could only drag the final score in their loss to 42-28.
