East falls to SOL National leader Neshaminy

BY ROGER CONDUIT

Correspondent

BUCKINGHAM &emdash;Central Bucks East wrestling coach John Tomlinson knew his team's match against Neshaminy on Thursday would be tough.

The Redskins were unbeaten in Suburban One League National Conference competition.

But what Tomlinson feared most was not the Redskins' lineup. It was the two days of inactivity due to the winter storm that closed the Central Bucks School District. Tomlinson suggested inactivity was partly responsible for East's 31-20 loss to Neshaminy.

"We have a policy in Central Bucks," Tomlinson said. "When the school district closes due to weather, we cannot practice.

"We cannot get into the schools to do anything. They must not have that policy at Neshaminy, because they practiced (Wednesday). I'm not sure whether that's fair or not. I'm not saying they are cheating by any means. We haven't practiced since Monday.

"I was here (Wednesday), and the parking lot was clear and the roads were open. It was a beautiful day, but the schools were closed, so we couldn't do anything. With wrestling, taking off two days like that right before a match is tough."

The Patriots (9-2 overall, 4-2 league) lost bouts they should have won and did not get as many points in other bouts as they could have.

"They were more aggressive than we were," Tomlinson added. "They beat us to the punch. They beat us."

In the opener, East 103-pounder Eric Boyle scored a 4-3 decision to get three points. That was a match Tomlinson felt the Patriots should have won more handily.

Another shocker for the Patriots came at 119, where veteran wrestler Drew Simcox came out on the short end of 4-2 decision.

That was just the beginning, and the Patriots continued to lose points Tomlinson thought they should have won. They made up points through the middle and heavier weights, but could not make up enough to turn the tide.

"We expected to get more points at 103," Tomlinson said. "We didn't expect to get pinned at 125, but that happens. We got beat. We have no excuses.

"I would like to have thought (125-pounder) Ben Shull would have won. He's had difficulties and struggled a bit. This week did not help."

When the match got to the heavyweight bout, the Patriots were behind by five points. A pin would have given the Patriots a victory. Anything less would not have changed the outcome.

Heavyweight Jerry Pender was not there, and East had to forfeit.

"I don't know where Pender is," said Tomlinson. "I haven't seen him since Monday."

The road back through the middleweights was not a smooth one. Joe Skocypec started the comeback with a 9-7 squeaker at 135. Down 5-1 at the end of the second period, Skocypec had to use all his experience to turn things around, but he did with a pair of escapes, a takedown and a near-fall.

At the end of the third period, he was tied at 7 with Bob Ireland, forcing a sudden-death overtime period.

As both wrestlers tried to get the advantages in the extra period, they held each other off. Finally, Skocypec shot and brought down Ireland with 1 minute, 12 seconds remaining to score the decision.

East's Ryan Sakmar followed with a 10-5 decision over Pat Warusz at 140, and Kraig Feldman shut out Tom Frazer, 9-0, for a major decision at 145. Feldman's win brought the Patriots to within three points of the Redskins (5-0 SOL), but they got no closer.

Neshaminy's Mike Pirozzola ended the Patriots' comeback attempt with a pin in 1:29 in the 152-pound match. He did not waste any time. In the short time before the pin, Pirozzola scored four takedowns, allowing Scott Fisher to escape immediately before securing the pin.

After Neshaminy's Todd Mason came up with a decision over Mike Adler to increase the Redskins' lead to 25-13, Wally Mlynarski and Mike Russo brought the Patriots back again.

Mlynarski shut out Rich Atkinson, 5-0, at 171, and Russo scored a major decision over Jack Fleming at 189. It appeared Russo was going to pin his opponent several times before taking a 12-2 victory.

Friday, January 28, 2000