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Blair beast of East, and the Final Four
NHSCA FINAL FOUR. Bucs beat Easton in marquee match; roll over teams from
Texas, Montana, West Virginia.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
By NICK FIERRO
The Express-Times
PALMER TWP. | The son of one of the nation's most popular pro wrestlers and the nephew of one of the most popular
amateurs compete for Blair Academy these days, but that's not why the Bucs are the No. 1 high school team in the
country again.
They're on top because of talent and depth and a core group of leaders who never seem to get rattled.
Proof positive came at the National High School Coaches Association's Final Four of High School wrestling Saturday
at Easton's 25th Street Gym.
In their matchup against the Red Rovers, who are ranked 14th, they could have been at least mildly concerned when
Easton pulled ahead 17-16 after six bouts, including a first-period pin during a tilt by Easton junior Ju-Ju Drummond
over Alex Cournoyer at 125 pounds.
Instead they calmly responded by winning the next seven bouts to wrap up a 49-20 triumph.
One of them was more memorable than the rest, as Mario Mason erased a 4-2 deficit in the third period to hand Braylin
Williams a 5-4 setback at 140 in what was easily the most thrilling bout of the match.
Mason scored the go-ahead takedown with 30 seconds to go, too late in the match to cut him and try for another
before it was over. So he had to try to win it with a ride.
That part was complicated by a stalling call against him 3 seconds later.
"Yeah," Mason said, rolling his eyes. "I don't know. But it was a good win, a good match.
"I lost a couple matches in big tournaments. Today was a big confidence-builder for me. I won a couple of
big matches."
Mason also prevailed in a close 4-2 battle against Luke Ashmore of Bishop Lynch (Texas), getting the winning takedown
in overtime.
Among Blair's other winners against Easton was undefeated senior Victor Mocco, who rumbled to an 11-1 major decision
over Joe Piro at 160. Victor Mocco is the cousin of two-time NCAA champion Steve Mocco, a former Blair wrestler
himself.
A midseason transfer from a prep school in New Hampshire, Mocco commutes to Blair from his home in Bernardsville,
N.J. He has wrestled just seven matches for the Bucs this season, winning each one. But he knows that with his
name, he'll never be able to win enough to surpass his cousin.
"It's kind of weird," Mocco said, "because he was really, really good, and everybody knows the name.
And it helps sometimes because sometimes people say, 'here comes a Mocco, oh no.' But I just want to do my own
thing."
The Easton-Blair match ended with a bunch of "wooooos" filling the air as Easton's Cory Rutt finished
off Reid Fliehr with a takedown in the closing seconds for a 3-1 decision at 189. The sound effects were directed
toward Fliehr's father, former NWA and WWE champion Ric Flair, who was in the house.
Blair never was threatened seriously in beating Parkersburg South (W.Va.), 60-3, 31st-ranked Bishop Lynch (Texas),
53-17, and 32nd-ranked Sidney (Mont.), 48-12.
All of it proved once again that, borrowing a phrase from Flair, like it or not, Blair Academy is the best thing
going in amateur wrestling today.
"We got to wrestle a lot of kids, which was nice," coach Jeff Buxton said. "And we got to see a
lot of different wrestling, all the way from Texas to Montana to Easton and West Virginia."
Buxton was especially impressed with the way Mason turned up his game in going 4-0 on Saturday.
"Ashmore is ranked pretty high, cadet national champion, and Mario just hasn't been going the best he can
as he's shown in the past. And coming from behind to be able to beat Williams was a good win for him. I didn't
expect him to have that good a match. He's really improved from last year.
"At 130, (the weight class) was solid with (Bishop Lynch's Luke) Silver and the kid from Montana (Sidney's
Ryan Hecker), so Kellen (Russell) had two strong wins there also."
And Blair, which hasn't lost a dual meet since 2000, had four more strong victories to run its five-year winning
streak to 122.
Nick Fierro can be reached at 800-360-3601 or by e-mail at nfierro@express-times.com
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Rovers impressive in wins over
western powerhouses
NHSCA FINAL FOUR. Easton beats teams from Texas, Montana as Russ Souders
voted most outstanding.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
By MIKE WEILAMANN
The Express-Times
PALMER TWP. | Easton Area High School's wrestling team wasn't sure what to expect from the out-of-town entries
on Saturday.
Bishop Lynch of Texas and Sidney of Montana certainly discovered how tough the Red Rovers can be.
Easton handed both nationally-ranked teams their first losses -- beating Bishop Lynch 51-18 and Sidney 40-24 in
the National High School Coaches Association Final Four.
Coach Steve Powell's Red Rovers (15-3), ranked No. 2 in The Express-Times region and No. 14 in the nation by Amateur
Wrestling News, capped a fine day of wrestling at the 25th Street Gym with a 49-20 loss to No. 1 Blair Academy.
"We got what we wanted from our schedule," Powell said. "The kids got a real good experience and
some real good exposure against some real good kids in the country."
It wasn't a good day for Bishop Lynch's Ashmore brothers, Ben and Luke.
Senior Russ Souders got Easton and the crowd going early on with a stunning 9-6 win over Ben Ashmore, ranked No.
1 in the nation by Amateur Wrestling News and InterMat.
Later on, Braylin Williams knocked off Luke Ashmore, ranked No. 5 in the nation, 4-3 at 145.
Souders (26-2), a three-time PIAA Class AA state medal winner at Wilson, converted a takedown with 36 seconds left
in the third period. Ashmore (57-2), a 2005 Beast of the East champ whose only previous loss this season was to
Nate Moore of Iowa City West, was hit for two stall points in the bout against Souders.
"I was looking forward to (wrestling Ashmore) all week," said Souders, who went 3-0 on the day and was
voted the outstanding wrestler. "Jordan Oliver and Kegan Handlovic were telling me all week that I could win
this match. I went out and wrestled my best."
Bishop Lynch (19-5) had to forfeit the opening bout at 171 and 275. The Friars, ranked No. 31 in the nation, lost
a team point following the 119-pound bout.
The win by Souders gave Easton a commanding 30-2 lead through seven bouts.
"Souders had a great day," Powell said. "He had three very good wins to boost his confidence. It'll
make him work harder and it put a target on his back."
Sophomore Jordan Oliver (28-0), the nation's top-ranked 103-pounder, also contributed a big 9-5 win over Riley
Adamson.
Oliver, a PIAA Class AAA state runner-up as a freshman, went 3-0 on the day -- pinning Sidney's Levi Johnson and
working Blair's Keefer Taylor for a 20-5 technical fall. The crowd-pleasing Red Rover converted 11 takedowns on
the day and decked Johnson with a spladle from the standing position.
Williams (23-3), eighth in the Class AAA states last season, took Ashmore (56-4) down with 26 seconds left for
the win.
Colin Dailey (145), Joe Piro (160), Cory Rutt (189) and Chris Wilson (215) all had pins for Easton.
Montana state champion Sidney, ranked No. 32 in the nation, proved it was for real in a tough loss to Easton.
The Eagles (17-2), who feature nine state placewinners, drew within 11 at 24-13 when unbeaten state champ Ryan
Hecker majored Mike Biase at 130.
But last-second losses at 135 and 145 ended any chances of an Eagles upset. Easton sophomore Tevin Gibson pulled
out a 10-9 win over Craig Dunn at 135, while Colin Dailey earned a late 3-2 decision over state champ Derek Fritz.
"They scrapped real well," Powell said of Sidney. "If you flip the two matches we won in the last
10 seconds it might've been a win for them."
Gibson (4-1), who just entered the varsity lineup this week, tilted Dunn (27-8) in the closing seconds for three
points and the win.
Dailey (21-9) got a takedown with six seconds left to pull out the win and clinch the match at 34-13 with three
bouts left.
"You're not going to win matches giving away in the last 10 seconds," said Sidney coach Guy Melby, whose
team also lost 48-12 to Blair. "That's the difference. We pretty much controlled both matches and gave it
up in the last seconds."
The Eagles got a technical fall and a pin at 152 and 160 to make it 34-24 before Piro closed out the match for
Easton by decking Beau Melby with a cement mixer at 171.
Back-to-back pins by Souders and Ju-Ju Drummond at 119 and 125 gave the Rovers a 24-9 lead midway through the match.
Easton now sets its sights on big Lehigh Valley Conference showdowns with Northampton on Wednesday and Nazareth
a week later on Feb. 1.
"They're both going to be street fights," Powell said.
Mike Weilamann can be reached at 800-360-3601 or by e-mail at mweilamann@express-times.com
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