Bits
and Pieces 18
Well, well, well, that was a lot of fun. Another
William Penn-St. Marks wrestling match was held yesterday (as local
sports fans know by now.) I will be the first to admit that I picked
that the wrong way. I, along with a few of my friends, thought that
this was a cake walk for St. Marks.
I've written plenty of times in the past that one should never,
ever, count out a William Penn team of any kind. I should listen to
myself more often. This William Penn team is coached by one of the
great motivators, Mr. Jack Holloway. I know a few young men who have
wrestled for William Penn and have learned great life lessons from
him, and take Hodgson head wrestling coach and former Delaware Sports
co-host Jerry Lamey as prime example number one.
What these guys will tell you is that Holloway will have you
convinced that you not only you could run through a wall of razor
blades, but you would come out on the other side un-bloody. And you
would happily run through that wall for him even if you knew you
wouldn't live as a result.
After I was done with a TV interview with Holloway yesterday, I
was ready to start wrestling someone right on the spot myself.
When Eugene Mercante, the Colonials heavyweight, left the bench
to go check in with the scorers table, he wasn't thinking that he had
lost all five times to the guy he was getting ready to wrestle to
decide which team would win. He was thinking about the stories that
Holloway tells in the legendary Colonial wrestling room. Stories like
the Olympic gymnast from China (whose name escapes me) who took to the
rings with a fractured leg and landed on that leg to win a gold medal.
He thought of the 1980 Olympic Ice Hockey team. He thought of former
Colonial individual and team efforts over the years that have made the
William Penn wrestling history so respected. Then when his match was
tied at 2 with less than a minute to go the Spartans Nick Meyer made a
move that appeared to be one that was going to take Mercante down for
two points and a defeat. But all that emotion stored up as a result of
all those lessoned learned gave him the strength to counter Meyer's
move, score a takedown of his own and then, even grander, register a
pin that blew the roof off of the joint when the crowd noise erupted
when the ref slapped the mat.
I should have known by now that something of that nature was
going to happen. That's why I go to those matches to begin with.
That was just the icing on the cake for the Colonials though.
They were just as happy that freshman Tim Hawkins only lost by 8
points at 103. They were just as happy that junior Matt Weber only
lost by 13 to nationally ranked Bobby Shaw at 112. They were just as
happy that Nick Teoli only lost by 13 to Patrick Atkinson at 125.
Imagine the excitement in the gym when Harry Kettner pinned Chris
Collins at 130. Think what it was like when Shawn Taylor did the same
thing to Kyle Skinner at 135 in the next match to give William Penn a
16-12 lead.
That set up one of the two highly anticipated bouts of the
evening when former Colonia, and returning state champion, Joe Ferrara
hit the mat against his old team. With a chorus of boos, that I
thought was fairly sportsmanlike, Ferrara did his job for St. Marks
scoring a 10-2 win over Joe Kane. But, again, the Colonials were happy
that Ferrara only scored four team points for St. Marks.
Perhaps it was just me, but it appeared as if the only person
on the St. Marks side of the mat to have the intensity of anyone in
the cherry and black was Joe Ferrara. If that was the case, was he
just extra excited due to nervousness or was he drawing from some old
lessons learned during the past two years in that very same gym in his
old uniform?
The next match was a match-up of two state champions from a
year ago, Andrew Donofrio for the Spartans and James Fromal for
William Penn. This was basically a draw although Donofrio won 1-0. The
point was given away by Fromal at the start of the second period when
he decided on an optional start when Donofrio selected bottom. Fromal
allowed Donofrio to stand and escape for a point. Neither wrestler
could manage anything close to a take down for two periods and when
the third period started, Fromal was told to select the neutral
position. It didn't work, and Donofrio won. I thought it was a mistake
to go neutral and said so in the stands at the time, and to Holloway's
credit he said the same thing afterwards. Donofrio is brutal when he
is on top however, so it was all just Monday morning quarterbacking at
that point anyway. We can look forward to a rematch between those two
in the state tournament.
The result of the Colonial victory
is a number one ranking here at Delaware Sports. The problem with
ranking wrestling teams is that there are two different ways to do it
and whichever one we pick we would be guaranteed to get hate
mail.
There are dual meet results that can be used and there are
tournament results that could be used. We have generally taken the
tournament results as the state used to do to decide team champions at
the end of the year. Now the dual meet state championships have
replaced the official team standings at the end of the state
tournament but even though they have, we have stuck with the
tournament finishes to select our top tens and final number ones. That
is why we ranked Hodgson number one at the end of the year last year
as opposed to William Penn even though the Colonials flat out whooped
the Silver Eagles head-to-head.
Either way is certainly valid although, for example, Hodgson
has a couple of guys who score big-time points in tournaments. But
there are only perhaps three or four. The same thing might be said
about this year's St. Marks team and I'll use yesterdays match as an
example. The Colonials might only have one individual state champion,
or two at the end of the year (Fromal and Kettner I'll say way out on
a limb) but as a team head-to-head they haven't lost in two years now.
They just haven't scored as high in tournaments recently even though
their team is more solid as a whole throughout the lineup. The dual
meet end result is all about that focus that Holloway provides for
them and how it's sometimes just not about winning, but about how the
match is fought (Hawkins,Weber, Kane). It's about overall team heart
(something we like to honor here at Delaware Sports...see front
page.)
So what we will do here at the end of the year is list the
final rankings two different ways; one a dual meet top ten and the
second as the final teams from how they score in the state individual
championships.
This past Friday I saw something that I'm
not sure has happened in 30 years - a sold-out McKean varsity
basketball game, in the middle of the season no less. The Highlanders
were taking on the defending state champion A.I. duPont Tigers in a
battle for Blue Hen Conference bragging rights.
The last time a McKean boy's basketball team won anything was
back in 67 and 68 when they captured the Blue Hen Conference
championship in back-to-back years.
The crowd had good reason to be excited and it was as loud in
that gym at times as the William Penn crowd was for the wrestling
match the following day. Kasime Harris played all-stater Kwana Chase
masterfully and had a huge thundering dunk on top of it.
Rashod "Doodles" Coleman, the player with the best
regularly-used nickname in the state is also the real deal for the
Highlanders, and even though they went down 65-62, McKean was ahead
most of the game. Coleman made frequent use of his wide-receiver speed
and his agility to knife through the Tiger defense for double digits.
Now that they realize they can play the good teams like A.I. well,
expect McKean to make a solid showing in the state tournament.
A.I. was playing without Chris Saylor who was the Tiger who had
a fight that caused A.I. a forfeit to Delcastle this past week. But
Saylor wasn't really the difference here anyway. McKean's sharp
shooter didn't make a shot all night from three-point territory. We
won't mention his name here because at least he didn't try to kick
anyone's butt during the game. (Yeah, I know that was a little harsh,
but so be it)
This Tuesday at Milford if Lake Forest's Dorell
Little scores 17 points he'll reach the 1000 point mark for his high
school career. We know about this one in advance, but can't make it
there because it's radio show night, but if someone sends us the clip
we'll air it on our show.
Congratulations to A.I.'s Monica
Peterson who scored her 1000th career point this weekend in a Tiger
upset of Ursuline.
Congratulations to Tim Wampler for
being name the new Mt. Pleasant head softball coach.
Two
big-time match-ups (off the top of my head as always) this Friday
night as Caesar Rodney and Sussex Central wrestle off and Newark and
St. Marks swim off in a battle of #1 and #2 girl's teams. This is the
team that St. Marks has circle on the schedule and expect a boisterous
crowd at Glasgow high along with a Delaware Sports TV crew. (So bring
your 'We watch Delaware Sports' signs along with you if you go.)
Diamond State Games notes….
Our triathlon, officially titled "The Escape from Fort
Delaware Triathlon," has been officially sanctioned by USA
Triathlon. This will mean that we will now expect 5-800 athletes from
around the country. The EFDT begins from Fort Delaware on Pea Patch
Island with the swim portion. Competitors will swim the .9 miles in to
Delaware City to a transition area.
From the transition area, athletes hop onto their bikes for a
25-mile jaunt around the area and back to the transition area on
Clinton St where they will park their bikes and begin a 10K run. The
winner should be across the finish line in about 2 hours and 15
minutes or so.
There are five classifications of softball on the schedule right
now. The Delaware Men’s Class D tournament will be played as part of
the Diamond State Games. Last year there were about 40 teams involved
in that class alone.
There are three divisions of girl’s fast-pitch softball. Jerry
Grasso is helping state ASA Commissioner Barbara Thornton run those
three classes.
So with just those mentioned events we are expecting over 1000
athletes for the first-ever Diamond State Games. To put that in a bit
of perspective, when the Empire State Games held their first-ever
Games about 20 years ago, they had a total of 2000 athletes.
It looks as if a Beach Volleyball competition may not happen
because we are having some trouble finding a large enough area to
accommodate 20 volleyball courts laid side to side (or back to back).
Cape Henlopen State Park was our first choice, of course, but there
are some conflicts with both schedules that block our chances. So if
you know anyone who has a lot of sand in his or her backyard, give us
a call.
Brandywine’s field hockey coach, Willie Miranda, is heading up
our field hockey event for the DSG. He has scheduled the 16th
and 17th for pool play and the 23rd and 24th
for the championship rounds. The divisions will be high school with
June high school graduates eligible for only the open division and
rising freshman eligible for high school play.
The field hockey events will most likely be held at Sanford,
Polytech, and Cape Henlopen during pool play and the finals at
Polytech.
The track and field competition will be held at Glasgow high and we
are checking to see which senior division events to add with the
assistance of the Delaware Senior Olympics President, Al Marshall.
In the track and field competition there is already an Ursuline
track reunion planned. In our 4 x 400 relay look to see a reunion of
sisters Tricia and Colleen Taylor (Tricia is currently running for
Villanova) Colgate’s Sarah Parks, and William and Mary’s Kristin
McGough. This is something I’m pretty excited about.
Other track pre-registrants include former state shot put champions
Chris White from William Penn and Purdue University and Rachel Schultz
from Caesar Rodney and the University of Delaware.
Howard’s head wrestling coach Brandt Kennedy is coming out of
retirement to compete in the pole vault as is Hodgson’s assistant
wrestling coach and Delaware Sports editor, director, and production
designer Dee Meyer (The Most Dangerous Man in Delaware). Kennedy will
be competing on the same complex as his daughter Breanna who is a
national champion in the shot put for her age group.
So put together a team that you won with at some point in time and
reunite at the Diamond State Games. Definitely make sure that you are
out getting yourself in shape regardless of whether or not you will
take part in the Games.
We are hoping to have our Opening Ceremonies at the Big Kahuna in
Wilmington. There are also plans to have a radio station there with us
along with a band or two and some other cool things to do. More about
that as details unfold.
Marshal Manlove
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