Oliver pin clinches Red Rovers victory
Easton 32, Upper Perkiomen 28. Sophs Eric Burgey and Joe Piro post key wins to keep Easton unbeaten.

Sunday, January 14, 2007
By MIKE WEILAMANN
The Express-Times
PALMER TWP. | Easton Area High School's wrestling team may have been down Saturday night, but with their powerful lightweights still on deck, the Red Rovers certainly weren't out of it.

Easton closed the match with three straight victories, including Jordan Oliver's match-clinching pin in the final bout at 119 pounds, to beat Upper Perkiomen 32-28 at the 25th Street Gym.

"It's nice to have Jordan Oliver as your heavyweight," mused Red Rovers coach Steve Powell, 3-2 against Upper Perk in a brief series that began in 2004. "Looking at the lineup and how (Upper Perk) juggles, it wasn't going to be pretty at the start."

The Rovers (8-0), ranked No. 2 in The Express-Times region, also picked up key wins from sophomores Eric Burgey (140) and Joe Piro (171).

Burgey's 4-2 overtime decision over slightly favored Dustin Kern eventually loomed large with the Rovers down 28-18 and three bouts left.

"That sure was a big win for us tonight," Powell said.

Piro trailed 6-2 after one period in his bout with Nick Edmunson after he was launched to his back for five points in the first period.

After choosing neutral to start the second, Piro hit a cement job -- a move Easton's coaches have forbidden him to use -- for the pin in 2:51.

"If I use it I have to do 10 pushups in the (practice) room," Piro said of his home-run move. "I'll do 10 pushups for us to win. I don't think the coaches cared tonight. It got the team rolling."

Cory Rutt followed with a pin at 189 before Upper Perk's Brian Keyser won a tossup over Chris Wilson at 215 and Bruce Augustine's pin at 285.

"Getting those three wins strung together put us back in it," Powell said.

Desmond Moore picked up a 9-3 decision at 103 and Kegan Handlovic followed with a technical fall at 112 to make it 28-26 Upper Perk with Oliver, the state champion, on deck.

Oliver (22-1) built an 18-7 lead over Mike McStravick before taking him down to his back for a fall in 3:28.

Upper Perkiomen (10-4) was trying to make it three straight against Easton in this matchup of nationally-ranked teams -- the Indians No. 18 and the Rovers No. 13, according to Amateur Wrestling News.

Coach Tom Hontz's Indians beat Easton twice last year -- 49-26 in a dual meet and 46-19 in the PIAA Class AAA state final.

"We really didn't catch any breaks and we hung with them," Hontz said. "I'm really proud of our effort. I thought the loss at 140 was the difference."

Hontz juggled his lineup, moving state champ Chris Sheetz up a weight to 125 and later bumping from 152-189.

Upper Perk stormed to a 12-0 lead behind a pin by Sheetz and Shane Smith's huge 8-7 win over Ju-Ju Drummond in a battle of state placewinners at 130.

Smith (25-7) led 4-2 after two periods and got a pair of two-point nearfalls in the third. Drummond (20-5) hit a tilt for three points with 44 seconds left to make it 8-7 and Easton's faithful hounded the refs to no avail for a second stall call on Smith that would have tied it.

State champ Zack Kemmerer's 7-3 win over Colin Dailey at 145 stretched the Indians' lead to 15-3 after five bouts.

Mike Weilamann can be reached at 800-360-3601 or by e-mail at mweilamann@express-times.com.