Mike Watson Tournament

Interscholastic Varsity Wrestling Team Tournament
@ Watkins Glen High School (Watkins Glen, NY)
Saturday, January 14, 2006

Final Results

Royal Comets finish in second in Watkins Glen
Desi Green named most outstanding wrestler after finishing in first at 119 pounds.

Henrietta Post
January 19, 2006

Full Text: Copyright © 2006 Henrietta Post.
Reproduced with the permission of Messenger Post Newspapers.

The R-H wrestling season seemed to be stuck in low gear.

It is somewhat of a rebuilding year for the Royal Comets. They beat Fairport two weeks ago by a narrow margin and placed fourth at the Ilion tournament the following weekend.

Going into a dual meet with Greece Athena last Wednesday, the team was down two starters. So, the team needed to breakout of their slump to get the season going.

It didn't happen with Athena, losing to the Trojans, 34-20. As with Fairport, the match again started with 160 pounds.

After six matches, the team was down 25-0 going into Desi Green's (119) match. R-H won four of the next five matches, racking up 20 points with Desi Green (119) and Jon Roberts (125) pinning their opponents and Justin Aeckerle (135) and Kevin Lagueras (140) winning major decisions.

It looked like it might be another cardiac finish like Fairport. However, the Royal Comets lost the last two matches by a total of three points and the rally ended.

Head coach Mickey Marlowe felt the team wrestled well but Athena was just a little sharper and a little more experienced enough to win the close matches.

The Royal Comets are used to winning all the time and winning big, so this was a new experience. They needed something good to happen.

It happened at the Mike Watson Invitational Tournament at Watkins Glen last weekend.

On the trip down to Watkins Glen, the R-H bus driver commented to Coach Marlowe that the team seemed quieter than usual, maybe focusing on the tournament ahead. The ride home would not be so quiet.

The Royal Comets took second place behind powerhouse Waverly and ahead of state-ranked Vestal. Green (119), Lagueras (135) and Tom Moore (145) were all individual champions in their respective weight classes.

They not only won their weight classes, but dominated their opponents in their final matches. Lagueras and Moore both won by major decision.

In addition, Green was selected MOW - Most Outstanding Wrestler- for lightweights by the other coaches. His opponent in finals was from Waverly, who he had beaten in overtime earlier in the season at the Waverly Duals.

However, the 5-0 score this time indicated that Green had improved since then.
Nine other R-H wrestlers placed in this tournament. A group of five wrestled back to win their consolation finals to finish in third place: Roberts (125), Aeckerle (140), Jason Hightower (152), Greg Standish (171) and Mike Heath (275).

Ray Welch (96) finished in fourth place. Jesse Dillela (160) and Brent Gerringer (189) both took fifth place. Mike Mancari (130) had an injury default in his last match and finished in sixth place.

So, the bus ride home was a bit noisier than the ride down, with lots to cheer about.

With a weekend like this, Coach Marlowe felt the entire team seemed to come together and was getting into "the zone " just in time for the Monroe County Tournament in two weeks.

Before then, however, the team will have to deal with Pittsford at 7 p.m. Thursday. While there are only two Borshoffs left at Pittsford, the team as a whole has gotten better over the past couple of years and are sure to provide a good match for the Royal Comets.