By Will Willems
Contributing Writer
INDIANAPOLIS – Lawrence North coach Jared Williams said there was still some room for improvement from his No. 9 Wildcats after their Dec. 5 home match against 19th-ranked Carmel. That may not bode well for the rest of the state after Lawrence North cruised to a 43-24 Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference victory.
“In most places, we wrestled very well,†Williams said. “I feel good about getting a win against a team like Carmel – they are very good, and they are solid all the way through.
“There were some spots, though, that we could improve.â€
Carmel took control of the match early at 3-0 when Will Mascaro, moving up a weigh class from his normal 125 pounds, used a late reversal to defeat Jeremiah Edwards, 14-13. Back-to-back pins by Dan Frascella and Chris Mascaro at 135 and 140, respectively, raised the lead to 15-0.
The lead was nearly extended in the next match at 145. But a reversal attempt by Carmel’s Bob Corpas with just three seconds left wasn’t completed before the final buzzer, allowing the Wildcats to finally get on the board with Matt Goodwin’s 4-3 victory.
Lawrence North (8-0 overall, 2-0 MIC) then was able to show some muscle. Qwion Booker managed a pin of Brandon Krieger at 5:35 of their 152-pound match, a surprising result in a back-and-forth battle that stood at 6-5 when the fall occurred.
“They got a lot of momentum right out of the gate,†Williams said. “It was big for Goodwin and Booker to go out and get those wins.â€
Carmel’s lead grew to 18-9 after Nolan Pachciarz’s 6-2 decision over Ethan Wilson at 160. But Bryce Grimes scored a pin over No. 12 Molin at 171 to cut the deficit to three for Lawrence North.
Then came the match of the night: the 189-pound showdown between Josh Yoder of Carmel and Lawrence North’s Matt Brumfield. Another back-and-forth match that had it all, this one stood at 11-10 in Carmel’s favor when Brumfield caught Yoder off guard and registered a pin, bringing the Wildcats their first lead at 21-18s.
“We thought the match was going to be like that,†Williams said. “Matt really didn’t wrestle very well – he’s better than that. But he was able to come out on top of some of those scrambles and get us those points.â€
Carmel (1-1, 0-1) reclaimed its final lead at 24-21 in the next match at 215 with Gary Porter’s pin of B.J. Grimes. But pins by Nick Polson at heavyweight and Brandon Nelson at 103 returned the lead and grew it to 33-24 for four-time state champion Lawrence North.
“The pin by Polson was big,†Williams said. “We expect a lot more out B.J. Grimes at 215, and that (his loss by fall) was certainly something we didn’t expect to happen.
“But they had some momentum there, and we were able to stop it.â€
Greg Bell (112), Eric Ross (119), and Cashe Quiroga (125) each won decisions to close out the match, giving the Wildcats an impressive five straight individual wins to end the night.
Williams said he is pleased with the progress of his team in the early part of the 2007-08 season.
“We are where we want to be,†Williams said. “At this point in the season, we don’t want to be in peak condition or as sharp as we can be.
“We are very pleased at where we are, but we certainly have a lot of work to get where we need to be at the end of the year.â€
The individual results:
103 – #4 Nelsen (LN) pin Parham (C), 3:58 (LN, 33-24)
112 – Bell (LN) dec. Ackerman (C), 11-7 (LN, 36-24)
119 – Ross (LN) dec. Settineri (C), 7-3 (LN, 39-24)
125 – #2 (at 112) Quiroga (LN) major dec. Coleman (C), 20-6 (LN, 43-24)
130 – #7 (at 125) Will Mascaro (C) dec. #5 (at 119) Edwards (LN), 14-13 (C, 3-0)
135 – Frascella (C) pin Langhammer (LN), 1:37 (C, 9-0)
140 – #10 Chris Mascaro (C) pin Kinder (LN), 1:52 (C, 15-0)
145 – Goodwin (LN) dec. Corpus (C), 4-3 (C, 15-3)
152 – #14 (at 135) Booker (LN) pin Krieger (C), 5:35 (C, 15-9)
160 – Pachciarz (C) dec. Wilson 6-2 (LN), (C, 18-9)
171 – Bryce Grimes (LN) pin #12 Molin (C), 5:09 (C, 18-15)
189 – Matt Brumfield (LN) pin Yoder (C), 4:28 (LN, 21-18)
215 – Courter (C) pin B.J. Grimes (LN), 2:30 (C, 24-21)
285 – Polson (LN) pin Pierce (C) 1:29, (LN, 27-24)
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