Late Pins Help Patriots Top Barons
Going into Tuesday night’s match against the B-CC Barons, the Patriots knew they would have their hands full. The Barons came into Wootton with an undefeated team, and a line-up that boasted four returning state qualifiers. An injury to one of Wootton’s own state qualifiers – 120-lber Jacob Weaver – seemed to make the task even more daunting. Through ten bouts, the Patriots clung to a slim 22-20 lead. But their final four wrestlers of the night – Jay Carroll, Ralph Bernardo, Josh Strauss and Logan Tritto – erupted for a string of four consecutive pins, putting twenty-four unanswered points on the scoreboard, turning what had been a tight match into a convincing victory. Additional victories came from Austin Tritto, Eyal Nave, Garrett Ruderman, Josh Hollman and Stephen Potemken.
Key Bouts:
-Wrestling in his first varsity match of the season, junior Eyal Nave had the tall order of replacing Weaver in the line-up, and going up against one of B-CC's top wrestlers, Sean Cohen. But when Cohen bumped up to the next weight class, the door was open for Nave to shine against less formidable competition. Nave did not disappoint, registering a first period pin in the second bout of the evening, which brought the Patriots to a commanding twelve point lead. -The outcome of the match was still very much in question when Jay Carroll took the mat, wrestling up one weight class. Against a larger opponent, Carroll was on the offensive, recording two takedowns in the first period. Carroll followed up a strong first period by putting his opponent on his back for the fall just seconds into the second. -Always reliable, junior three-year varsity veteran Austin Tritto set the right tone for the match, hitting a hard double in the opening seconds and taking his opponent directly to his back, giving Wootton a quick six points.
One Champ, One Trophy, Six Medals for Battle-Tested Patriots
With the addition of two more tough teams - South Carroll and Patuxent - to a group that already featured Damascus, Clarksburg, Brunswick, Poolesville, Reservoir and host Tuscarora, the 2011 Titan Thunder Tournament figured to be more competitive than ever. Wootton proved itself to be up to the challenge, however: each of the fourteen varsity wrestlers chipped in with at least one victory, as the team finished in third place, an improvement on last year's fourth. Ralph Bernardo led the Patriots, winning nine matches over the course of the two-day event, en route to the championship. Joining him in the final round was Austin Tritto, who took the silver. Also placing in their respective weight classes were Logan Tritto (4th), Jacob Weaver (4th), Stavi Tzamaras (5th), Loryn Chen (5th), Garrett Ruderman (6th), Josh Hollman (6th), Stephen Potemken (4th), Chen Han (4th) and Josh Strauss (6th).
Top Performances:
- Two years ago this weekend, Ralph Bernardo's wrestling season came to a crashing halt, as the freshman broke his arm during one of the final matches of the tournament's first day. On Saturday, Bernardo reversed his fortune, pinning his way to the final round, where he controlled Andrew Nickell of Damascus for a 6-0 decision, to give Wootton its only champ.
- For the first time in three years at the tournament, Austin Tritto found himself in the finals, squaring off against an old rival, Tuscarora's Anthony Savage. After a close first period, Savage ultimately pulled away for a 10-2 victory, but Tritto's second place finish marked an improvement on his fourth place finish, a year ago.
Loss to Northwest Avenged as Patriots Sweep Tri-Meet
Less than ten months ago, Wootton experienced their most heartbreaking loss of the season at the hands of the Northwest Jaguars. This defeat, which was ultimately decided by the eighth tie-breaker to settle a 31-31 deadlock, ultimately kept the Patriots out of the regional duals. Needless to say, the team was hungry to avenge the loss. On Saturday they did so, scoring a decisive 40-15 victory over the Jaguars. This victory came on the heels of a dominating 78-3 win over Rockville. The tri-meet sweep capped a 3-0 week in which the team allowed only a combined thirty-six points and surrendered a mere four pins. Undefeated on the day were Logan Tritto, Austin Tritto, Jacob Weaver, Loryn Chen, Josh Hollman, Stephen Potemken, Chen Han, Ralph Bernardo and Josh Strauss.
Keys Bouts (against Rockville): - Senior co-captain Alex Smolen made his season debut with a pin to start the match. - Junior Andres Restrepo scored his first varsity win, taking his opponent down with a strong double, and ultimately earning the fall. - Ralph Bernardo controlled the match against a Rockville's tough Cesar Cubias, running up the score 8-0 before pinning in the third period.
Key Bouts (against Northwest): - After losing a hard fought decision in his first match to Rockville's Tommy Broussard, last year's county runner-up, Garrett Ruderman got the Patriots off on the right foot with a decision over Northwest senior Tom Berch.
- Sophomore Josh Hollman's performance symbolized Wootton's improvement over the course of a year. Hollman locked up a 9-5 decision over Northwest's Connor Kaminski, who pinned him in the last meeting between the pair.
- Loryn Chen won a back and forth match over returning region qualifier Tommy Beard, securing the pin on a gable midway through the third period.
Patriots Begin Season in Style with Decisive Win over Rockets
The Patriots looked sharp in their opening match Wednesday night, winning eleven out of fourteen varsity bouts en route to a 63-18 victory over the Richard Montgomery Rockets. Nine out of eleven victories were decided by pin, as the team took the first step towards defending its division title. Josh Strauss, Logan Tritto, Austin Tritto, Stavi Tzamaras, Loryn Chen, Garrett Ruderman, Josh Hollman, Stephen Potemken, and Ralph Bernardo pinned their opponents, while Jacob Weaver won by forfeit and Chen Han chipped in with a 3-1 decision.
Key Bouts:
– Wrestling his first varsity match after an undefeated JV campaign, Josh Strauss kicked off the meet – and the season – for the Patriots. Wootton’s big man found himself in trouble early, entering the second period down 5-0. But after taking bottom, he was able to reverse his opponent to his back, earning six points for the team. – Wrestling up a weight class, junior Loryn Chen looked sharp against a larger opponent. Chen controlled the match, scoring two take-downs off a pair of shucks before scoring a pin in the third.
– Freshman Garrett Ruderman had a shaky start to his varsity debut. But after finding himself in an early 4-0 hole, he seemed to get stronger as the match went on – exploding for several back points off a series of tilts, before eventually pinning his opponent in the third period.
Preseason Informational Meeting
The 2011-2012 Wootton Wrestling Preseason Informational Meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 21st, right after school in room 110. Anyone interested in joining the wrestling team should attend this meeting or contact Coach O'Neill before 9/21/11.
Wootton Wrestlers Excel in Summer Wrestling
The Wootton Wrestling team found great success this summer, both at the Naval Academy Team Camp and at the Maryland Summer Wrestling League. All the Patriot Wrestlers who went out and wrestled in the offseason have done themselves and their team a great service. Not only will each of them find more individual success in the future but they have also made the team better as a whole.
Official records were not kept at camp but some of the top Wootton performers included: Ralph Bernardo, Josh Strauss, Stephen Potemken, Josh Hollman and Stavi Tzamaras. At the Summer Wrestling League, "Team Olive", comprised of wrestlers from Wootton and Blair finished the regular season with a 5-2 record, good enough for the 3rd seed in the end of season team tournament. In the team tournament, Team Olive shut out Team Orange (Magruder) in the first round before advancing past a depleted Team Blue(Gaithersburg/Clarksburg). In the final, Wootton avenged one of their earlier losses besting Team Red(Northwest/Georgetown Prep) to win the league team tournament. Wootton had 6 wrestlers compete in the summer league individual tournament. Logan Tritto, Austin Tritto, Jacob Weaver, Loryn Chen, Chen Han and Jay Carroll all picked up wins at the event. Austin, Loryn and Chen each won their individual pools and took first place. Jacob was awarded second place after finishing tied with two other wrestlers in his pool with one loss a piece. Weaver's lone loss was to state runner-up, Thierno Diallo of Duval. Logan wrestled back to third place after losing his first round match.
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