Wrestling: Dolson’s return to Rocky Point marked by defeat
Gazing at banners on the gym wall before the match, Dolson remarked that the lighting in the gym was better than he remembered. Then Rocky Point went about demonstrating that the caliber of wrestling at the school is still pretty high.
Jackie Gold’s 10-2 win over Tim Pelan in the penultimate match at 126 pounds secured a 41-23 victory for Rocky Point, and a quarterfinal meeting against No. 4 Connetquot on Saturday.
Rocky Point coach Darren Goldstein, who was Dolson’s club coach, had to like what he saw. The Eagles (8-0) won the last seven bouts of the day.
Spectators saw some good wrestling, but they didn’t get to see Rocky Point’s star wrestler, Thomas Dutton, show his stuff. After James Matias (a pin of Jake Skrezec at 1 minute 23 seconds of their 138-pound match) and Dylan Zabbara (4-3 over Carmine Vergari at 145) won the first two bouts, Rocky Point jumped to a 15-0 lead when Dolson opted to forfeit to Dutton at 152 pounds. That way the Tuckers (16-7) could save Tim Schmidt for 160, which he won, 7-2, over Antonio Ortiz.
Schmidt’s triumph was the first in a string of five for the Tuckers, who built a 23-15 lead. Among those bouts was the quickest contest of the day. James Hoeg wasted no time in his 170-pound match, pinning Renz Conlon in 32 seconds.
The Tuckers’ run also included Tanner Zagarino’s 17-8 defeat of Anthony DeVito at 182, Dylan Marlborough’s pin of Sal Aprile 94 seconds into the 195-pound bout, and Adam Goode’s 5-2 win over Matt Capell at 220.
But then the pendulum swung back Rocky Point’s way, starting with Jack Pohl, who pulled out a 3-2 battle against Chris Schwamborn at 285.
The Eagles are especially tough at the lower weights, and it showed. Anthony Sciotto (99 pounds) beat Jack Bokina, 9-1; Nick Pagnotta (106) shut out Thomas Hoeg, 7-0; Anthony Cirillo (113) pinned Luke Bokina at 2:51; William Romero (120) scored a 7-2 decision over T. J. Beebe; and C. J. Archer (132) was a 3-1 winner over Lucas Webb.
Losing is something that hasn’t come frequently to the Tuckers. They recently put the finishing touches on a third straight undefeated league season with their 23rd consecutive league win.
Rocky Point is no slouch, either, having won 14 straight league matches and five league titles since the 2006-7 season.
