Sheldon not completely satisfied with big home-opening victory
By MATT WING - Tribune Sports
The Evening Tribune, Hornell, NY
Thursday, December 8, 2005

Full Text: Copyright © 2005 The Evening Tribune.
 

HORNELL - Coming off of a tournament victory on Friday at Saturday at the Walt Peterson Memorial Tournament in Bath, the Hornell wrestling team dominated visiting Livonia in its Livingston County Athletic Association opener Wednesday.

The Red Raiders only lost two matches and ran away with a 57-12 victory over the Bulldogs. Apparently it didn't impress Hornell's head coach Matt Sheldon.

“I guess it was a win,” said Sheldon shortly after the conclusion of the meet. “We didn't wrestle too well, really. A couple of the kids that lost for us shouldn't have lost. A couple of the matches were a lot closer than they really should have been. I'm not sure if it's just a letdown after the tournament.”

Senior Aaron Parks gave the red, white and blue the lead - one the Raiders would never relinquish - when he picked up a 16-0 technical fall in the 145-pound match to lead off the night. It was the 108th victory of Parks' career. Following his win, he was presented with a plaque commemorating his 100th victory which came during the tourney in Bath.

Hornell's Ryan Dieter and Tyler Sick followed suit with technical falls as Dieter won 16-0 at 152 pounds and Sick won 16-1 at 160 to give Hornell at 15-0 lead.

“Right where we started, from 30 all the way up through to 60, that's kind of where my experience and the meat of my team is,” said Sheldon. “I expect pins or techs from all of those kids.”

Joe Murray, Scott Ray and Andy Drake closed out the match by adding 15 teams points to the score as Murray pinned Matt Knight in 37 seconds at 130, Ray earned a 13-2 major decision over Greg Vanbuskirk at 135 and Drake had a 16-1 technical fall over Kevin Bishoping at 140.

In Hornell's two losses, both Raiders held significant leads during the first period before getting pinned in the third period. At 171 pounds, Doug Drew built a 7-2 lead on Tim Masone before giving up eight straight points to fall behind 10-7. Masone closed out the match by pinning Drew with 41 seconds left in the third period. At 215 pounds, Brian Fuller built a 6-0 lead in the first period, but fell behind 8-7 in the third to Bob Mastowski, who earned the pin with 56 left in the match.

Hornell's Dan Rosemier was also impressive as he pinned Tom Hilimire with 37 seconds left in the first period. Rosemier was one of five Raiders to win an individual title at the Walt Peterson tournament, joining Parks, Drake, Sick and Joe Sirianni. Dieter also made the finals, but lost to Canisteo-Greenwood's Kyle Amidon.

With the team score still up in the air with six weight classes to be decided, Hornell's Kevin McAllister picked up a 6-2 decision over Tim Coughlin at 112 pounds and Austin Dwyer closed out the Bulldogs with a pin over Travis Englert at 119 pounds, with just five seconds left in the third and final period.

Sirianni (103) and Josh Drew (125) both received six team points by way of forfeit, but Sirianni earned his with an exhibition pin over Brian Ohle in just 53 seconds.

Hornell (1-0) will be at the Attica Blue Devil Classic this weekend in what should be a tough test for everyone involved.

“This weekend, if they have any hopes of doing well, they are going to have to pick it up,” said Sheldon. “The Attica tournament is a tough tournament.”

“There are some really tough teams there,” added the coach. “There are going to be a lot of state qualifiers there, people that have gone to states. If the kids are wrestling well, who knows.”

The Red Raiders' next dual meet is on Tuesday at home against Honeoye Falls-Lima, a team which is expected to bring another set of young wrestlers to the Maple City. However, Sheldon remains concerned with the short break between the tournament and the dual meet.

“I think they are kind of a young team also,” said Sheldon of the Cougars. “I think we are going to be a little banged up, especially with it being Tuesday. It will be interesting to see where some of my kids are. HF-L has a few good wrestlers and a new coach so it will be interesting to see where they are as well.”