John Jay Defeats Hen Hud 42-28

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On Tuesday, December 19, John Jay traveled to Hen Hud and fell behind 28-18. So the next two matches were crucial, and after Austin Omin got his team a six spot, Jake Llanos must have felt the weight of his turn for the entire team. “No, I just focused on my match,” said the 170 pounder, and the results can’t be argued with.

He pinned Daniel Skelly with 20 seconds left in the first, and John Jay went onto a 42-28 victory.

The match began with Joe Ferrer and Mason Dietz wrestling to a first period stalemate. 0-0, Dietz opened the second with an escape, then got a take down and registered the pin at 1:23.

Next, the ranks were decimated. David Corrales received a forfeit, neither team had a wrestler at 108 and Ruben Villeda got a free six at 116.

A 12-6 score, John Aniello and George Wright got back to the grappling. Mostly on the part of Aniello, he sprawled Wright’s attempted shot at a take down, went into spin mode and got behind for control. From there, the 124 pounder sent Wright to his back three times and got the pin as the first period buzzer sounded.

The score tied now, Joe Gabriele didn’t mess around long either. He got a single leg takedown and hit a cradle to build a 5-0 first period lead. Into the second, the 131 pounder took care of business with a power half. “You get one arm under his armpit, the other arm on his head and drive over,” said Gabriele.

Only 10 seconds in, he’ll take the short day’s work, but the downside is less mat time. “I do want to wrestle more,” he assured.

The next three matches, on the other hand, meant John Jay was happy to get the full complement of Gabriele’s good work.Giovanni Gioio won a 13-3 major decision, Ben Kushner pinned Deven Comstock, and Jonathan Alia was also felled by a pin.

Down 10, Austin Omin wasn’t too worried either, and 58 seconds in, he proved the point. “I just snapped him down and got behind,” said Omin of his first period takedown.

In position, Omin rode the match home. “I caught him in a nice head lever, flipped him over and got the pin,” said the 160 pounder.

Four points behind, Llanos followed similar suit as Omin. “He took a bad shot, I sprawled, put in a quarter nelson and got behind,” said the 170 pounder.

Next was nothing sophisticated. “It’s pretty simple, it’s pretty reliable,” he said of the cradle that got him the pin with 20 seconds left in the first.

Up by two, having John Jay’s Section One champ on the docket was no gimme, though. “He (Kyle Pesky) was a sectional champ last year,” said Cameron Wierl.

Wierl was also wrestling up a weight and he fell behind in the first period. “I took the shot, he scrambled pretty well, and I got taken down,” said Wierl.

Down 2-0, Wierl reset in the second period. “The 190 pounder, got the escape, executed the take down and his clutch pin at 1:04 simply filled his job description. “I’m the captain, I always have to come through,” said the senior.

Of course, Wierl’s pin took away the chance for glory from Craig Holm-Joergensen. “I was so disappointed,” the heavyweight was all tongue and cheek.

He made do nonetheless. Holm-Joergensen got the takedown and begun the end for Hen Hud. “I was able to pick it up, roll him over and put in the bar for the pin,” he concluded the day.