High School Wrestling:
Edgewood Looking For Nice Season And Getting Early Presents

Wednesday, December 22, 1999

By Boog Williams
SJSports Staff Writer

Coaches Pete Dipol and Russ Heaton said they were looking to have a nice season. Well, the team is starting off on the correct way by giving Edgewood its first Tournament win in 12 years and their second win in 8 years over rival sister school, Overbrook. The Eagles started off the season by winning the Haddonfield Invitational on Saturday, December 18 and then followed by defeating rival sister school, Overbrook, 33-28 on December 22.

The Overbrook match was very exciting. There were a couple of pins, close matches won by one point, and even an overtime match. One match that stands out for me was the 189-weight class. Edgewood's Roy Hester showed me what great sportsmanship is. Roy faced off against Mark Spack. The match went the 3 periods. Both wrestlers gave all they could give. Roy lost the match by one point 3 to 4, but what he did at the end of the match is what I like to see. Roy and Mark were wrestling very hard and in the third period, with 1:17 left, Roy and Mark were struggling near the out of bounds. Roy made a move but both wrestlers were out of bounds. In the heat of the match, as the Ref blew his whistle, Roy knocked down Mark. Fearing the worst, the Ref started to jump in between the two but was surprised when Roy gave his hand to help his opponent up. Roy helped him up and then sprinted to his position for the restart. When I approached Roy the next day, he was curious why I wanted to talk to him, since he had lost 3 to 4. I said that I was proud to see someone show great sportsmanship by helping up an opponent. Roy responded that I was the only one that commented to him about his great sportsmanship. I think that more sports fans, athletes, coaches, reporters and parents should point out good sportsmanship whenever it happens.

The match between Edgewood and Overbrook started off with Edgewood winning by forfeit at the 103-weight class, giving Edgewood a 6-0 lead. The 112 weight class, a very exciting match, had Overbrook's Frank Froehlick pinning Mike Simone with 7 tenths of a second left in the third period. This tied the match at 6. Edgewood took a 9-6 lead by winning the 119-weight class. Edgewood's Jim Harris defeated Ryan Saunders 7-2. Overbrook took the lead 12-9 on a pin by Gary DaBrielle against Jeff Hoover with 1:17 left in the first period. In the 130-weight class, Edgewood's Jason Saithe pinned Ryan Briundley with 21 seconds left in the third period (see video clip) to give the lead of 15 to 12 back to Edgewood. In the 135-weight class, Edgewood's Jeff Mullen defeated Chris Densten 4-3 to increase Edgewood's lead to 18-12. At 140, Overbrook's George Larsen pinned Chuck Mauriello with 1:11 left in the first period. This tied the score at 18 all. At 145, Edgewood's Derek Schaffer defeated Kasheem Peterson 7-2 to give Edgewood the lead for good at 21-18. At 152, Edgewood's Brian Alber and Overbrook's Jason Legeskey had a very exciting match that went into overtime. Alber won the match 8-6 on a 2-point move in overtime, giving Edgewood a 24 to 18 lead. At 160, Edgewood's highly talented Chris Catania (who will be going after the school record for wins this year) pinned Steve Snyder in the second period to give Edgewood a 30-18 lead. At 171, Overbrook's Jim Witcraft defeated Jarrett Crooms with a score of 9-8. This pulled Overbrook back into the match with the score Edgewood 30 Overbrook 21. At 189, Overbrook won to make the score Edgewood 30, Overbrook 24. At 215, Edgewood's Adam Faris defeated Rich Snyder 9-3 to give Edgewood the win. The score now was Edgewood 33, Overbrook 24. Even with no chance to win the match, Overbrook's Jameel Hall defeated Edgewood's Dan Stahl 10-2. The match ended with Edgewood on top 33-28.

In an earlier conversation, Coach Dipol believed that Camden Catholic will be the team to beat, with Cherry Hill West and Overbrook also fighting for the top spot. I think that Edgewood should be in that list now...

Photos by Boog Williams

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