The word in the wrestling world was that Mount Saint Joseph had lost a step this year. If the Gaels had, it sure didn’t show Wednesday night.
In a long-awaited match, the top-ranked Gaels came from behind to defeat visiting No. 3 Archbishop Spalding, 32-30, in a quad meet. Before the main event, Mount Saint Joseph also defeated seventh-ranked St. Frances, 53-13, and Archbishop Curley, 61-18.
“We knew we were going be challenged by Spalding,” Gaels coach Harry Barnabae said. “Their kids work hard. We had a feeling it was going to be a very close match and it was.”
The Cavaliers won five of the first seven matches to take an 18-10 lead, but the Gaels came charging back. At 150 pounds, Cameron Cannaday cut the lead to 18-13 with a hard-fought 4-3 win over Charlie Gessford. Then William Hudson scored an 8-3 decision over Spalding’s Josh Taylor to cut the deficit to just two at 18-16. At 165 pounds, Nicolas Barnabae received a forfeit for the Gaels, giving Mount Saint Joseph a 22-18 lead.
After that, the Gaels got a major decision from Gabe McWhite and a pin by Austin Lewis to take a 32-18 lead. Even though Spalding got pins at 215 pounds (by Pete Jerdal) and 285 (by Delmar White), the Cavs came up two points short.
“We’re disappointed,” Spalding coach Mike Laidley said. “I think a lot of the kids wrestled well. Our 120 pounder [Henry Gessford] was out sick today, and who knows what the outcome would have been if he’d have wrestled.”
Lewis, a defending state champion, said the Gaels aren’t used to having to sweat it out at the end.
“Not really,” Lewis said. “We had a scare from Loyola two years ago, but that was as close as I remember. We’ve had some guys who play other sports come in and put up some key wins, and that really helped to turn the tide for us.”
The biggest upset of the night came at 120 pounds, when Isiah Womack of St. Frances defeated defending state champion Jake Tamai of Mount Saint Joseph, 4-3. Womack said that after a tough early part of the match he had faith he could win.
“I went out their and started to put pressure on him,” Womack said. “When I did, he started to back up. At that point I knew I could beat him.”
In other action, Spalding defeated both St. Frances (41-29) and Archbishop Curley (54-22). The Cavaliers were dominant in the lower weights throughout the day, and the results bear that out.
St. Frances coach Douglas McClain was proud of the effort from his team as well. The Panthers moved up a level to the A Conference this year and wanted to show that they belonged.
“I think that we proved to ourselves that we could wrestle with anybody,” McClain said. “I lot of those matches could have gone either way, and we beat some really good kids, but I think when we lost, we lost the right way. That’s something we’ll take back to the practice room and use to get better.”
Mount Saint Joseph 61, Archbishop Curley 18
106 – Kibby (MSJ) p Vitilio; 113 – Cooper (MSJ) p Alquran; 120 – Tamai (MSJ) won by forfeit; 126 – Santangelo (MSJ) won by forfeit; 132 – Stevens (MSJ) d Davis, 15-5; 138 – Nogle (MSJ) won by forfeit; 144 – Diggs (MSJ) won by forfeit: 150 – Cannaday (MSJ) p Faro; 157 – Hudson (MSJ) d Adewuyi, 6-0: 165 – Barnabae (MSJ) p Fish: 175 – Anderson (AC) p McWhite; 190 – Lewis (MSJ) p Boutz; 215 – Lewis (AC) p Hewitt; 285 – Regan (AC) p West.
Archbishop Spalding 41, St. Frances 29
106 – Chesla (AS) d Womack, 8-6; 113 – Bailey (AS) p Shird, 3:03: 120 – I. Womack (SF) d Zang, 12-0; 126 – Fernandez (AS) d Griffen, 13-7; 132 – Garretson (AS) d M Womack, 17-2; 138 – Paolucci (AS) p N. Shird, 1:15; 144 – Leitzel (AS) won by forfeit; 150 – Brown (SF) d Kolat, 8-4; 157 – Carpinteri (SF) d C. Gessford, 11-0; 165 – Grant (SF) p Taylor, 2:09; 175 – Lopez (SF) p Korman, 3:52: 190 – Emmonds (AS) p King, 3:16; 215 – Johnson (SF) p Jerdal, 2:39: 285 – White (AS) won by forfeit.
Mount Saint Joseph 53, St. Frances 18
106 – J. Womack (SF) p Kibby, :44; 113 – Cooper (MSJ) tech fall over J Shird, 15-0; 120 – I. Womack (SF) d Tamai, 4-3; 126 – Santiago (MSJ) p Griffin, 3:15; 132 – Stephens (MSJ) p M. Womack, 3:48; 138 – Nogle (MSJ) p N. Shird, 1:15; 144 – Allison (MSJ) won by forfeit; 150 – Diggs (MSJ) d Brown, 10-6; 157 – Canaday (MSJ) d Carpenteri 6-1; 165 – Barnabae (MSJ) p Grant, :45: 175 – Lopez (SF) d McWhite, 3-0; 190 – Lewis (MSJ) won by forfeit; 215 – Johnson (SF) won by forfeit; 285 – West (MSJ) won by forfeit.
Archbishop Spalding 54, Archbishop Curley 22
106 – Chesla (AS) p Vitilio, :49; 113 – Bailey (AS) p Alqurah, :19; 120 – Zang (AS) won by forfeit; 126 – Garretson (AS) won by forfeit: 132 – Gronkowski (SP) p Davis, 5:34: 138 – Stelar (AS) won by forfeit; 144 – Leitzel (AS) won by forfeit; 150 – Briles (AS) p Faro, :15; 157 – Gessford (AS) p Adewuyi, 1:45; 165 – Fish (AC) d Taylor, 8-0; 175 – Anderson (AC) p Korman, 2:23; 190 – Boutz (AC) p Emmonds, 2:15; 215 – Lewis (AC) p Jerdal, 4:36; 285 – White (AS) won by forfeit.
St. Frances 53, Archbishop Curley 27
106 – J. Womack (SF) p Vitilio, :43; 113 – J. Shird (SG) p Alquarn, 4:47; 120 – I. Womack (SF) won by forfeit; 126 – Griffin (SF) won by forfeit; 132 – M. Womack (SF) won by forfeit: 138 – Smith (SF) won by forfeit: 144 – Kolb (AC) won by forfeit; 150 – Brown (SF) p Faro, 4:25; 157 – Carpentieri (SF) tech fall over Adewuyi, 15-0; 165 – Fish (AC) p Grant, 3:37; 175 – Anderson (AC) d Lopez, 9-4: 190 – Boutz (AC) p. King, 3:10; 215 – Johnson (SF) p Lewis, 3: 46; 285 – Regan (AC) won by forfeit.
Mount Saint Joseph 32, Archbishop Spalding 30
106 – Chesla (AS) p Kibby, 1:26; 113 – Bailey (AS) d Cooper, 7-5: 120 – Tamai (MSJ), 3:35; Garretson (AS) d Santangelo, 12-8: 132: Paolucci (AS) d Stephens, 6-3; 128: Nogle (MSJ) maj. dec over Leitzel, 14-2; 144 – Kolat d Diggs, 6-5; 150 – Canaday (MSJ) d C. Gessford, 4-3; 157 – Hudson (MSJ) d Taylor, 8-3: 165 – Barnabae (MSJ) won by forfeit; 175 – McWhite (MSJ) maj. dec over Korman, 14-4; 190 – Lewis (MSJ) p Emmons, 1:04; 215 – Jerdal (AS) p Hewit, 3:51; 285 – White (AS) p West, :47.
