The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
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Wrestlers topple rival Pioneer
Saline wins three of four first matches to gain upper hand
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: January 18, 2007
The Saline wrestling season started well and, to this point, it's only gotten better.
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A 30-28 win over rival Ann Arbor Pioneer and a solid 4-1 record at the Plymouth Invitational last Saturday boosted the Hornets' record to 13-12 on the season.
With only one more win, Saline already will have doubled its 2006 total of seven.
"It's great," said Saline coach Scott Marvin. "It's honestly better than I expected at this point of the season, especially without (injured wrestlers Aaron) Nagy and (Luke) O'Brien.
"They've learned how to wrestle against each other in practice and apply that. We've had young guys who have filled in and done a great job."
Both the Hornets' younger wrestlers and veterans combined in the road win over Pioneer last Thursday. Ean Pokryfky started the match at 171 pounds with an 8-2 decision over the Pioneers' Will Moyer, who had defeated Pokryfky in three previous meetings. That was followed by a close 9-7 decision loss for Jake Feldkamp at 189 and a 7-3 win for Bryce Rajabian at 215. Pioneer voided the slot across from heavyweight Joey Everett and Saline had a 12-3 lead.
"That start was big," Marvin said.
Back-to-back-to-back wins by Saline's Nick O'Neil, Jimmy Smyrnis, Nate Opaleski and Jay Augustyn stretched the lead at 24-9 before Pioneer came back. A four-point decision win was followed by two straight pins. Headed into the final two weight classes, Pioneer had taken a 25-24 edge.
But Will Baiocco pinned Pioneer's Justin Base at 152 in the first period to retake the lead 30-25. With the five-point lead, all Brent Greene had to do to win was avoid being pinned or taking a technical fall.
"I told him not to try anything that might lead to a mistake," Marvin said. "Brent had to sacrifice a personal win for the team, but that's what our kids are about."
The victory kept Saline's perfect Southeastern Conference record intact, improving it to 4-0 on the year.
The strong wrestling by the Hornets carried over to Plymouth. Aside from a 26-35 setback against Dearborn Fordson, Saline dominated, winning 45-27 over Monroe St. Mary's Catholic Central, 45-29 over the hosts Plymouth, 48-34 over Gibraltar Carson and 54-21 over Armada.
Pokryfky, Greene, Everett, and Rajabian each finished the day undefeated, while Opaleski and Baiocco posted 4-1 records and Nick Flanders finished a solid 3-2 at 103.
Saline will put its undefeated SEC record on the line against powerful Tecumseh 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Tecumseh.
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