Tigers Come Up Short against the Cougars

The odds were stacked against Terra Nova’s varsity wrestlers at the last dual meet of the season in Half Moon Bay, Thursday, February 12. Fielding a team of just 8 wrestlers out of a possible 14 , the Tigers gave up 36 points in uncontested, forfeited matches to the Cougars. To put in perspective what a handicap that was for the Tigers, the Cougars earned only 19 points in contested matches that evening, winning 4 of 7 face-offs. It would have required pins from almost every Terra Nova wrestler to overcome the mathematical deficit they faced against HMB. Low numbers have plagued the Tigers all season.

The Tigers began the meet taking a forfeit of their own, with sophomore Danny Borrego going uncontested at 108 pounds. The next matches were tough losses for the Tigers. Justin Pesino, a 115 pound senior ranked 5th in CCS, faced HMB’s Edray Casamina, a junior currently ranked 3rd in CCS. The match was close and hard-fought, but in the end, Pesino could not get the takedown he needed to win. Final score 6-7, a Minor Decision worth 3 points for HMB. At 128 pounds, Terra Nova senior, Niko Richardson was pinned in the last 11 seconds of the match by HMB junior, Evan Marschall, who is ranked 6th in CCS. At 140 pounds, TN freshman, Jared Abellera, who has a CCS honorable mention, was pinned in the final 30 seconds of his match by HMB’s Jaspar Gananian. Abellera had defeated Gananian 2-0 the previous weekend at the Colt Classic. At 152 pounds, TN junior, Rodrigo Huazano lost to HMB’s, Alex Jeronimo 1-9, a Major Decision worth 4 team points.

The Tigers won the remaining contested rounds by pin. At 147 pounds, TN senior, Ryan McGannon pinned HMB’s Brandon Guio in the closing seconds of the second period. McGannon picked up Guio and threw him to the mat again and again. This would be exhausting for most athletes, but McGannon, a distance runner who has previously qualified for CCS in both Cross County and Track, has amazing stamina and is able to wrestle all-out, even through overtime, while his opponents are literally panting for breath.

At 184 pounds, TN senior, Leo Grabowski pinned HMB’s Sam Bower at 3:25 after dominating him on top for most of 2 periods. Grabowski has won every dual meet match this season by pin, reliably bringing in the maximum points for his team. At 197 pounds, TN junior, Jeremy Watts pulled off an amazing victory against HMB’s Ricky Camacho. Watts had been out of school all week with the stomach flu, but he insisted he was going to wrestle that night because his team needed him. Watts felt terrible, and his mom joked that he needed to get a first round pin because he was too sick to go three rounds. Watts got his pin at 3:21, bringing in top points for his team.

The final team score for the Varsity was HMB 55- TN 23, which sounds like a complete rout, but if one analyzes the breakdown of the scoring, a different picture emerges. Of contested rounds, HMB won 2 by pin, 1 by Minor Decision, and one by Major Decision for a total of 19 points. TN won 3 rounds by pin for a total of 18 points. Despite the lopsided final score in head to head competition, Terra Nova still stands a very good chance of winning the PAL conference tournament this weekend in Half Moon Bay.

Terra Nova’s other results from the dual meet: in the JV dual, Lynx Rose won by forfeit at 108lbs; Daniel Almonte lost 2-5 at 128 lbs; Brian Alvarez won by pin at 140lbs; and Omar Mahmoud, a senior who returned to the mat for the first time since an injury in December won his match by pin at 152lbs. In the girls’ competition, TN’s Jessa Mae Huerta defeated Haley James by pin at 5:05;TN teammate, Marlene Salinas, defeated Estefhany Ruiz-Ortiz by pin at :58.