The co-captains won the deciding matches, but a seventh-grader played a major role in the wrestling team’s victory over Saugerties.
Grappling in front of their home fans on Dec. 18, the Dragons came from behind to beat the Sawyers 44-38. The bouts started at 152 pounds, which meant that Brett Johnson and Dan Storer would be Cornwall’s last two people on the mat.
When it was Brett’s turn, the Dragons were trailing 33-37, and needed to win the last two bouts to finish on top. Brett did his part; he piled up enough points to score a technical fall in the final period, and give his team a 38-37 lead.
That put the pressure on Dan Storer, who jogged in place as he waited to step into the circle. Once the match started, Dan was on the wrong side of the first takedown. He fell behind 2-0, and couldn’t draw even until the closing seconds of the first period. If his teammates were concerned, they didn’t have to worry very long.
Dan moved ahead in the second period and pinned his opponent (Chris LaTourette) at the three-minute mark. As the Dragon senior came off the mat, he was hugged by Coach Don Blaine.
A few minutes later, the coach was still grinning, and talking about Steve Gazzillo’s comeback at 106 pounds. The seventh-grader was trailing by nine points, and his coach was less than optimistic. “I was just hoping that he’d stay on his feet, and he wouldn’t get pinned,” Coach Blaine admitted. But the plucky young Dragon, scored a takedown and ended the match a few seconds later.
The next night, the mat men swamped Monticello 72-12 to clinch the division championship. “It’s hard to believe that we clinched before Christmas,” Coach Don Blaine said, “but conflicts in the schedule pushed two league contests back into December.”
On Dec. 21, the Dragons finished fourth out of eight teams in the Jim Wilson Duals at Minisink.
Dec. 21 results: Dragons beat Nanuet 44-27, lost to Plainedge 36-42, beat Schalmont 54-30, lost to Massapequa 50-25.
Unbeaten: Travis Murtagh (152 pounds), Quinn Zsido (170), Erik Jessell (195). They finished the day with 4-0 records. Team leaders: Murtagh 13-1, Jessell 11-3, Blaise Markley 10-4, Zsido 9-0.
