Pondo gets revenge over OR grapplers
By Jerry Heinzer | Democrat staff writer | January 08, 2009


DRIVER'S SEAT - Ponderosa's Colby Haley leans back on Trojan Kyran Bennett in their 125-pound match won by Haley Wednesday night. Democrat photo by Megan Jeremica

SHINGLE SPRINGS - Ponderosa High’s fall from wrestling supremacy last season was a blow the Bruins took but never accepted. After two losses to Oak Ridge, the road to recovery, according to coach Soren Murphy, began immediately.

The Bruins redeemed themselves in Tuesday night’s Sierra Valley Conference dual meet in a big way. Behind clutch wrestling up and down the lineup, Ponderosa thrilled its packed gym with a 47-23 win.

“After those two losses we knew they (Oak Ridge) had all their guns coming back so we started talking about that and the kids put in the time to get better,” Murphy said. “The key was staying off our back tonight and the kids understood they had to do that for the team.”

The Bruins warmed up to the music of AC/DC, but quickly lost the vibe when Kyle West (145 pounds), Kyle Sundby (152) and Nick Rohrer (160) gave Troy an early 16-0 lead. Sundby and Rohrer both scored pins over Bryce Neff and Evan Pugner respectively, while West major-decisioned Allen Emmons 21-8.

“He (Emmons) was very defensive, almost stalling and did what he had to so I wouldn’t pin him,” West said. “I felt like I didn’t do my part. We gave up two forfeits, which was really disappointing, but that’s not an excuse because our job is to still beat them. Too many of our guys got pinned, which got our spirits down, but this will motivate us and we’ll be a different team when we see them at sections.”

Forfeits to Lyndell Scarr (189) and Clay Rains (215) tied the score after the Bruins bumped up Bret Blubaugh (171) from 160s. That strategy worked as Blubaugh put Ponderosa’s first four points on the board with a 9-1 major decision.

“I’m not used to wrestling up. He (Lucas Wilmore) was long and I had to get in on him. This is a great win for us because we took back what we lost and stopped their momentum,” Blubaugh said.

In the evening’s closest match, Paul Buchanan (HWT) fought to a 3-1 overtime win over Ka’von Tillotson. Buchanan’s shot with nine seconds left gave the Bruins their first lead.

“I probably gave up 50-60 pounds,” said Buchanan, who weighs 210. “It was just heart. There comes that breaking point in each match where you either get it done or not. This is a good win, we needed it - it’s Oak Ridge.”

Ponderosa’s Tim Ditrich (103) used an arm bar to turn Cameron Miller late in the second period before Kyle Meniketti (112) pinned Trey Reese 32 seconds into the bout.

“I put my knee underneath, locked up the far-side cradle and brought it back,” Meniketti said. “This win shows that we can do it and it’s nice to get back on top.”

Joey Pacific (119) stopped the Bruin surge with a 14-2 major decision of Sean Melton but Ponderosa’s Colby Haley (125) countered with a 9-0 major decision over Kyran Bennett. Greg Barrier (130) gutted out a tough 6-2 comeback win for Oak Ridge over Brycen Carlson.

With two matches left, the score was 35-23 in favor of the Bruins but the Trojans could tie it with two pins. Those falls instead went Ponderosa’s way as Jesse Routsong (135) cemented the win with a first-period pin of Derek Shupe that brought the house down.

“I had an arm bar but it slipped out so I sunk in a half and posted his arm out,” Routsong said. “We’ve had a whole year to work and improve and it’s nice to go 1-0 (in the SVC) and get the league title back.”

Anything after Routsong’s win was icing and the Bruins’ good fortunes continued as Gaarett Marinelli (140) trailed Josh Dawson 4-1 in the second before catching Dawson on his back with seven seconds left for the final points.

“Unfortunately one of our good kids was out and we had to change our complete lineup. All week we thought we’d have one lineup then the call comes in and we have to go to plan B - that’s not an excuse because they (Ponderosa) did a good job,” Oak Ridge coach Rocco Cardinale said. “Wrestling is always about matchups. We just didn’t have the matchups and it wasn’t our night.”