Wrestlers Wallop Garfield

A day after a tough loss to Don Bosco, the Ridgewood High School wrestling team soundly defeated visiting Garfield last night.

With only two wrestlers losing matches, the Maroon varsity team handily beat the Boilermakers, 62-10.

In total, Ridgewood secured eight pins in the victory.

"We came back after a tough loss [Dec. 22], and we're moving in the right direction," coach Torre Watson said.

All six seniors—Andrew Gramaglia, Ryan Giovanetti, Sam Pietrantuono, Christian Rota, Bob Franklin, and Jimmy Uzzalino—won their matches in businesslike fashion. Of the six, only Franklin missed a pin (winning on points, 7-1).

Watson said that's what he expects from his upperclassmen.

"That's what their supposed to do. They're an experienced group, and we have to ride the momentum they give us," he said.

Starting at the 160-pound weight class, Rota kicked things off with a solid pin the match's first round.

After junior Kyle Gibson dropped the 171-pound match to Garfield's Kucab Kris on a late pin, the Maroons never looked back.

Juniors Gordon Ruffin (189) and Yama Ahmad (215) with Uzzalino (225) rattled off a pin, win on points, and pin, respectively. After five matches, Ridgewood was up big, 21-6.

Next, freshman spark plug Will Montgomery whipped off 16 unanswered points in just over a round, earning five match points for the Maroons.

Watson was especially "happy" with the underclassman's performance.

"It was his first dual meet, and he wrestled hard. I think it's interesting for people to see how fast the smaller guys can get points," he said.

After Montgomery's win, the team continued its roll and manhandled Garfield.

Kenny Hayes (112, freshman), Sam Meyer (119, sophomore), Brandon Giovanetti (125, sophomore), Ryan Giovanetti (130), Pietrantuono (140), and Franklin all won their matches, as well.

Only sophomore Edwin Xue (135) lost in addition to Gibson. Watson talked about handling defeat after a successful match for others.

"Each guy has his own dejection, but they have to put that behind them. It's about 98 percent looking forward, and using that 2 percent to fuel them," Watson said.

Although Ridgewood won most matches, Garfield battled hard. One of the more exciting bouts saw Meyer and Garfield's Dereck Capote dueling through three rounds. Down 6-5 with 10.8 seconds remaining, Capote earned a point with only a second left, forcing overtime.

Meyer outlasted the Boilermaker in the overtime period, though, winning 8-6 and giving Ridgewood a 35-6 lead.

After a brief holiday break, the wrestling team starts up again with the BCCA Holiday Tournament Dec. 29 and 30.