January 28, 1999

Calvert makes quick work of Riverdale's leftovers

By Chris Homan
Sports Writer

Former Calvert wrestling coach Mike Kaucher took one look at the lineup card for Wednesday night's dual meet with Riverdale and it wasn't long before the comment of ''this won't last long,' flowed from his mouth.

It certainly wasn't a knock on either team, but when the word 'forfeit' is listed under seven of the 14 possible matches, one could only expect this match to go as quick as a microwave dinner over an open fire.

And it did. The Falcons felt the heat as all six Calvert grapplers recorded their wins via the pin, two of them in under forty seconds, for a 36-24 Seneca win.

Football season postponed this match for nearly two months. And injuries, academics and heck, even the Pope's visit to the United States kept six Calvert wrestlers out of this one. But Riverdale just happened to be in the same situation.

''We never had a 103- or 112-pound wrestler, but we have three kids injured and two more gone to ineligibility. To top it off we lost Joel Borer this week because he went to visit the Pope in St. Louis,'' Calvert coach Ben Schlagcek said. ''I guess we were just lucky that Riverdale had to forfeit some of the same spots.

''We're down some kids, but the guys we do have stepped it up.''

Mark Distel (119) started the Senecas (2-9 in dual meets) off with a bang by putting Aaron Caudill on his back in just 39 seconds. It was the first of two quick ones for Calvert as Joel Kummerer finished off Paul Kearns at 135 pounds in the same time.

Jared Price (125) took a little longer to get the one count on Brandon Pfeiffer. Price took a 6-1 lead into the second period, but 44 seconds later the referee's hand hit the mat.

The Falcons pulled to with six, 18-12, when Andy Brandt downed Calvert's Chris Mathias at 152 pounds in just 30 seconds. But, Dan Monico picked the pace right back up with a flattening of gary Young in 3:39 at 160.

Monico took just a 2-1 edge into the second period and had a 6-2 edge when he overturned Young for the win.

Riverdale again found the point column when Keven Rinaman, 171 pounds, was outlasted by Luke Grant in 3:31. Rinaman trailed 2-1 going into the second period after getting a point off a techinacal foul, but his rally in the second fell short.

A forfeit at 189 pounds notched things at 24, but Ian Cook once again pulled the Senecas through. Cook, the Midland Athletic League's Defensive Player of the Year this past football season, was all offense in pummeling Adam Flugga in 2:15 to seal the Calvert win.

Rick Bridinger, who pinned his way through the Hopewell-Loudon Tournament, added the final six points due to forfeit.

''It wasn't as easy as it may have looked, but our guys did well tonight and I am real proud of them,'' Schlagcek said. ''Last week we had five forfeits and lost to Arcadia by a point, so it's nice to get a win. We're definitley improving.''