Canisteo-Greenwood Redskins 66, Campbell-Savona Panthers 24

SCAA Dual Meet
@ Canisteo-Greenwood High School
Thursday, February 3, 2005

SCAA Champs: Redskins wrap up title, send off seniors in style
By DERRICK BALINSKY, Tribune Sports Editor
The Evening Tribune
Friday, February 4, 2005

CANISTEO - The Canisteo-Greenwood varsity wrestling team celebrated Senior Night in spectacular fashion Thursday evening as the Redskins cruised to an easy 66-23 victory over the visiting Campbell-Savona Panthers.

The Redskins, who were aided by former coach Wayne Hartman's motivational speech during the Senior Night festivities, won six straight matches by pin, beginning at the 140-pound weight class, and a total of 10 straight matches overall en route to the lopsided outcome.

Senior Devan Bertch, who now has a record of 31-1 this season, was most affected by Hartman's words.

"I started out with Coach Hartman in the seventh grade," Bertch said of the veteran coach who retired two seasons ago. "He was a real good coach. I liked having him around and it was nice of him to see me off. It really showed me that he though highly of me. I really enjoyed that a lot."

Josh Rouse and Ryan Turner, who both ended up with victories by forfeit, also were honored prior to Thursday's final regular-season home meet.

"It was a real plus sending those guys off with a victory," Mickey Woodworth, second-year coach of the Redskins said. "The kids wanted to win this to show all three of them how much they're appreciated. The did a good job of doing it."

"It was especially nice for Devan," Woodworth added. "He's been with the team for so long. He's a great kid and a definite benefit to Canisteo wrestling. The other two have been great additions to the team as well. They'll all be missed in the years to come."

"Devan has been a real big factor in my career," Nick Clark, who wrestles at the 189-pound weight class, said. "We've been wrestling partners over the past few years. Even Ryan (Turner) - he's always good competition. He and Josh (Rouse) work together and they've developed into fine wrestlers over the last couple of years. It was nice that we could pick up this win for them on Senior Night."

In addition to a great senior send-off, the Redskins also wrapped up the regular-season Steuben County Athletic Association championship. The team completes season with an in-conference record of 6-0.

"It's a real bonus for our team because we've got four seventh graders and three eighth graders - a real young team," Woodworth said. "We're kind of getting beaten up in our non-league matches, but when it comes to our league matches we're right up there. It's a plus for next year as well. Now that they've accomplished this while they were young they'll know what the experience was like and hopefully they'll use that to their advantage down the road."

Bertch, whose six-year career record stands at 187-48, recorded his 31st victory of the season with a pin over Brandon Wood in a time of one minute and 40 seconds.

"Our league isn't as strong as it has been in the past," said Bertch, who needs three victories to break the career wins record at Canisteo. "Most of my matches this year have been like that. I've had a few tougher ones, but like I said the league is a little bit weaker than it has been."

"The last two years I've pretty much been looking at the states," Bertch added. "I came up short last year and it was really heart breaking because I know in my mind that I could have been at least second in the state. From wrestling in the offseason and seeing all of the people that did go to states while competing against them I know that I could have been second in the state, but I came in second in Section V. That is definitely a little disappointing. I blew it last year, but I want to get back there and go on to win states."

Clark also picked up a pin, defeating Robert DeSalvo in 1:26. Clark's victory gave the Redskins a 42-12 advantage on the scoreboard after nine matches had been completed.

"I was wrestling against a big, strong kid out there," Clark said. "He almost got a shot on me. Luckily, I defended it and got the pin."

Campbell-Savona was forced to forfeit the next four matches in a row, leaving the Panthers with a 66-12 deficit. In all, the Redskins were the beneficiaries of 30-forfeit points, a total which proved more than costly in the Panthers' seventh straight loss of the season.

"We've sort of run into a little change," C-S coach Dominic Scolaro said. "We've been filling the weights for a lot of years. Now other teams are (filling those spots) and we're a little down. It's a tit-tat back-and-forth every year as to who is going to fill out their teams. Small school have up and down years and this is a bit of a down year for numbers with us. Next year we have a bunch of younger kids coming up that should probably fill most, if not all, of the weights next year, but we'll have to wait and see.

"Canisteo has some good wrestlers, but our kids had a lot of fun out there," Scolaro continued. "There was a lot of chucking goin' on - we were throwing everybody around. It was a spirited match. I enjoyed it, it was good for our kids and it was good competition.

"Canisteo gave us our biggest whipping of the year, but there was some good-spirited matches out there. Most of other matches have been very close. In fact, we've lost five matches by one bout. We just haven't been able to pull any wins out. We have too many holes."

Alec Pratt rebounded from a 4-2 first-period deficit against Luke Schamel in the 152-pound contest to take a 5-4 lead in the second period. Pratt would go on to pin Schamel in the third period, completing the comeback at the 4:47 mark of the match.

"It was a good match," Woodworth said. "I really just think Alec outlasted him on the mat - he seemed to be in better shape than his opponent was. He came through at the end and finished up strong."

Jayson Ebner opened the evening with a 2:54 pin over Bill Simons at 125 to give C-S an early 6-0 advantage. Leon Woodworth's win by forfeit at 130 evened the score at six, but Joe York put the Panthers back on top, 12-6, with a 2:40 pin over Craig Amidon at 140. Kyle Amidon and Jeremy Smith then started the snowball effect for the Redskins with pins of 33 seconds and 4:50 at 145 and 152, respectively.

Steve Black helped the Panthers save face with a near shutout in the 119-pound contest, the final matchup of the evening. Black earned a 14-1 decision over C-G's Zach Amidon after taking a 14-0 lead over the first four and a half minutes of the bout.

"I think Steve is ranked No. 2 in our class among small school wrestlers," said Scolaro, whose team fell to 0-7 with the loss. "He's been around a long time and is a very good wrestler. His technique is solid - he's just been there. Not quite like Devan Bertch, but he's been there. He's an experienced wrestler."

Canisteo, now 6-3 overall, is off until Wednesday when it will take on non-conference rival Hornell on the road at 6:15 p.m. The Red Raiders have posted a 7-2 record this season and are coming off of a 59-6 Livingston County crossover victory over Division III opponent Pavilion. HHS finished second in the LCAA Division I standings behind regular-season champion Letchworth.

"We don't really match up that well with them," Clark said. "They're lightweights are pretty amazing and everyone above 152 is either a junior or senior I think. It'll be a tough one for us, but we should be all right."

Coach Woodworth agreed.

"We might not match up that well with Hornell," he said. "My younger kids are lighter and Hornell appears to be very strong in their lightweights. We'll have some good matches there, but this year we're not going to match up. It's going to be fun getting back and wrestling with them. It's a good time up there."

Even so, Bertch believes it could be closer than expected.

"It's a big rivalry," Bertch added. "They had a lot of good things to say about us in the paper the other night. But, they've got a real good team. I'm not going to give anything away, but they should handle us. Still, I think we've got a lot of good wrestlers as well, and I know we'll give it everything we've got to try and pull off the upset if we can."