December 29, 2000
Pirates at top of Wendy's Invitational
By Alexius Tomaszewski
Sports Writer
After the first day of competition at the 18th Annual Wendy's Invitational, Sandusky Perkins finds itself in familiar territory. The Pirates sit atop the standings with 84 1/2 points.
"Overall, we're doing pretty good," Perkins head coach Steve Finn said. "We didn't have the greatest week of practice with holidays, so we anticipated being flat, but we weren't."
The Maumee Panthers are within reach at 79 1/2 points, while Toledo St. Francis holds onto the third spot (63 1/2).
The rest of the field includes Elida (55 1/2), Toledo Central Catholic (49 1/2), Lexington (45), Fremont Ross (42 1/2), Toledo Whitmer (40 1/2), Hilliard Darby (38), Groveport Madison (35 1/2), Columbus Brookhaven (33), Celina (32 1/2), Swanton (29 1/2), Lancaster (27), Maysville (19), Lima Shawnee (17) and Defiance (15).
Host Columbian is 13th, just half a point behind Celina. The youthful Tornadoes took some time warming up in the opening round, winning only three bouts.
"We didn't wrestle well in the first round," first-year head coach Les Delong said. "A couple of our matches could have gone either way, but they didn't fall our way."
Junior 171-pounder Leo Hoerig started the Tornadoes off in dramatic fashion, pinning Tremayne Johnson of Columbus Brookhaven in 3:06. Hoerig, the lone Tornado in the semi-finals, pinned Groveport Madison's Carl Ryan in 5:15 to advance.
"He's always steady," Delong said of the co-captain's performance. "He's a good, physical kid who's going to keep improving."
Hoerig faces Swanton's Chad Finn in the semi-finals today.
Following Hoerig's example, 215-pounder Jeremy Smith pinned Celina's Jeff Kunk in 1:03. Coincidentally, Groveport Madison's Robbie Haddox pinned Smith in 1:03 to place him in the consolation bracket.
Not to be outdone, heavyweight Anthony Beebe pinned Fremont Ross' Jarrod Peña in 1:12. In the next round, Beebe was the victim of a 7-6 overtime loss to No. 1 seed J. T. Haynes of Lancaster, bumping him out of the championship bracket.
Columbian regrouped and managed to keep eight wrestlers alive in consolation action. Scott Ardner edged Columbus Brookhaven's Albert Crothers 6-5 to remain in contention at 119 pounds. Co-captain Kris Adams, who fell 3-2 to Toledo Central Catholic's Mike Salwiesz in the first round, pinned Maysville's David Hays in 1:54 in the 135 class. Rob Murphy (140) pinned Dan Wallace of Swanton in 2:20 to advance. Likewise, Matt Murphy (145) downed Fremont Ross' Myles Porter in 4:50. Cory Hess (125) and Jeremy Siebenaller (189) both received byes.
When the Tornadoes did win, they won big. Seven of their eight wins were by pin.
"We won a lot more in the consolation round, it gave our kids an emotional lift going into tomorrow," Delong said. "Things will continue to get better as we gain experience."