Wrestlers making their mark early in season
Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Led by a first-place finish by Nico Von Stackelberg, the Lincoln-Sudbury wrestling team finished in fifth place at the Wakefield Tournament on Saturday, December 16, behind four of Massachusetts top 20 ranked teams, according to Masswrestling.com.  Von Stackelberg, seeded first, started the day with a win against a tough Lexington opponent, beating him 13-2. After tough quarterfinals and semifinal wins, Von Stackelberg faced Plymouth South's 160 pounder in the finals, where he was a winner by a 6-0 regular decision.  Other Warrior wrestlers who placed and helped the team finish strong were 103-pound freshman Mike Howd, who placed third in a very tough weight class. Howd was a winner by a score of 8-4 against his Methuen opponent in the consolation finals. 

At 125, sophomore David Garelik placed fourth. After a first-period pin against an Arlington opponent, Garelik faced number one seed John Sughrue of Methuen. After losing in the quarters, Garelik battled back with three straight wins, before losing 3-2 to a Catholic Memorial wrestler for third place.  Junior Jeff McKinnon, at 140 pounds, went into the tournament with a record of 5-0 and suffered his first loss in the quarterfinals to a Pentucket wrestler by a score of 9-7. He battled back with two wins before losing to a Reading opponent 5-4. McKinnon placed fifth in the tournament after beating a Greater Lawrence wrestler 11-4 in the consolation match.

At 145, junior Jon Starr placed fourth and went 3-2 on the day. Starr lost his third-place match by a score of 6-1 to a Wakefield wrestler. Starr had wins over opponents from Watertown, Malden Catholic, and Catholic Memorial. Senior co-captain Justin Nicholson also helped secure the fifth-place team finish with a third place finish at 189. After losing in the semifinals to the number one seed from Greater Lawrence by a score of 11-5, Nicholson bounced back with a first-period pin over an Arlington opponent and a first period pin over a Reading foe to secure the third-place spot.

Also placing for the Warriors was senior 215 pounder Jesse Smith. Smith was 4-2 on the day, beating a Wakefield opponent for fifth place.  Other L-S wrestlers contributing to the overall win were senior Evan Biller at 112, senior and co-captain Ryan McCann at 130, junior Matt Hardardt at 135, junior Ray Bores at 152, and senior Eric Pennington at 171.

The strong performance at Wakefield propelled the Warriors into a convincing 50-18 win over Newton South on December 19, which upped their Dual County League record to 2-1. Winning for the Warriors were Nicholson at 189, with a pin just 37 seconds into the first period. Senior Matt Stranberg was a winner by forfeit at 215 and Smith gave up nearly 60 pounds and won a hard fought 4-0 decision over Newton South's Josh Zager in the 285 weight class. Garelik won a 5-2 decision at 125, over Maor Cohen of Newton South. Senior captain Ryan McCann kept things rolling with a marathon gumby match at 130, with a 14-4 major decision over Tim Zielinski. The highlight reel of the night came in the action packed 140 pound match, as McKinnon showed off his Jackie Chan style stunt moves, flipping his way to a 19-10 win over Paul Rosenweig.  Senior and vocal leader Sean Walsh fought his way to 7-0 win over Matt Robbins at 145. Also winning for the Warriors was junior Cyrus Elias at 152 with a second-period pin over Saleem Sabre and Von Stackelberg and Eric Pennington at 160 and 171, respectively.

The Warriors traveled to Natick for an always-exciting barn burner with coach Bob Anniballi's Redmen to close out the pre-holiday week. The Warriors wrestled tough on the night but were overmatched by Natick's relentless attack style wrestling. The Warriors mustered four wins on the night. Winning for the L-S Warriors were senior Derrick Richards at 215, McKinnon at 135, and Von Stackelberg and Nicholson at 160 and 189, respectively.