Fit to be tied
By Rick Smith/ Daily News Staff
Thursday, January 19, 2006
SUDBURY-- A year ago in Wayland, Lincoln-Sudbury pulled off an improbable wrestling tie, needing pins in its final three matches to earn the deadlock. 
   This year, Wayland went to Sudbury and came home with a razor-thin, 34-27 victory against the host Warriors in an action- and emotion-packed Dual County League match that came down to the night’s final contest. 
   The orange-and-black Warriors are now 13-0 overall, 7-0 in the Dual County League. Barring a major toe-stubbing, Wayland will win the 30th DCL title in its long and storied history. L-S falls to 13-3 (7-1 DCL).
  "This is an unbelievable feeling," said Wayland 152-pounder Andrew Ogletree, a team captain. "On paper, we were the better team. I think we should have blown them out of the water. But when you get out on the mat and you can’t even hear your own coaches, it’s a whole new ballgame." 
   Fueled by a large and enthusiastic crowd, L-S made this match about as close as it can get. 
   "We came within a second of losing," said Wayland coach Gary Chase. "Our 215-pounder (Christian Pena) came real close to getting pinned. If he had, we lose. He came back and decisioned his man (Jesse Smith), 14-12." 
   L-S coach Harry Coffin had no complaints about his Warriors’ effort. 
   "There wasn’t one match tonight in which our kids weren’t fighting as hard as they could," said Coffin. "There were a lot of matches that could have gone either way. We need the 160 and the 215, and we didn’t get either, but I can’t complain. This was our best effort all year against a very good team." 
   In the 160 match, Nico von Stackelberg of L-S and Wayland’s Greg Bergman battled through two exhausting overtimes with the score tied, 5-5. 
   "That was a huge match," said Chase. "It’s the one time (overtime) in wrestling when you can stall. You hold your man down, you win. That was a very close match." 
  Wayland had taken its first lead of the night, 16-15, when Ogletree decisioned his man, 12-3. Bergman’s 6-5 decision made it 19-15.  That brought up senior captain Joe Manley at 171. "He and Mike Testa (103) are about as close as you can get for a guaranteed six points (for a pin)," said Chase. 
   Manley made short work of Evan Whitney, putting him on his back in 58 seconds for a 25-15 Wayland lead. 
   L-S’s Jared Nicholson cut the deficit to four points (25-21) when he pinned Tucker Bridgeo at 1:18 in the 188-pound match. 
   Pena came dangerously close to getting pinned himself at 215, something that would have given L-S a 27-25 lead with two matches remaining. Instead, he fought off his back and ended up with a two-point decision. 
   Jason Orlando got a forfeit at 275, so 103-pounders Jordan Syatt and Testa went to the mat with Wayland clinging to a 28-27 lead. 
    Testa made it a moot point when he pinned Syatt in 1:07, and Wayland was headed back home a winner. 
   "I think the difference was some of our kids toughened it up," said Manley. "Russell Lyons (145) staying off his back. Christian Pena was on his back and fought his way out of it. It was performances like that that saved the team points."