VILLARET PLACES SECOND; DOWDY THIRD AT NATIONAL PREPS
Duo among 5 who came away as placewinners
February 26, 2011
Ben Villaret and Chris Dowdy each put forth an impressive run in the National Prep Championships at Lehigh University.
Yet both wrestlers feel that they let a national title slip out of their grasps while finishing out their careers in a Gray Bee singlet.
Villaret wound up in second-place after losing a heartbreaker in sudden-death of the 160-pound championship, while Dowdy got stunned in overtime during the quarterfinals before wrestling back for third place at 140 pounds at the Stabler Arena.
Villaret, a post-grad, and Dowdy, a senior, were among five Gray Bee wrestlers who earned National Prep placewinner status by virtue of a top-8 finish in their respective weight classes. Freshman Jawan Jones (103) and senior Isaiah Cromwell (189) each finished 7th, while sophomore Terrell Forbes (152) placed 8th.
Villaret felt he should have been the one to score first in overtime against two-time National Prep runner-up Bob Burg of Mercersburg in the final. He even took the initial shot in the overtime, but relaxed and got taken down in the ensuing scramble and dropped a 5-3 decision.
“I shot and stopped wrestling. I forgot to finish and cost myself the win,” said Villaret. “I was in on (the shot) and just didn’t complete the move.”
Despite the loss in the final to the top-seeded wrestler in the weight class, Villaret came a long way this year under the tutelage of head coach Solomon Fleckman and assistant Dave Carlo.
Prior to coming to SBP this year, Villaret was a three-time New York State qualifier while at Staten Island’s Msgr. Farrell. But each time he failed to place, even when he received a quality seeding.
“The past three years competing, I was always nervous this time of the year and always let myself down,” admitted Villaret, who’s headed to Columbia University on a full scholarship. “This time, I kept my head in it and finally broke through the barrier. I owe it all to the hard work and training I’ve done here.”
Dowdy, a three-time National Prep placewinner, dropped a 6-4 overtime decision to Will Switzer of Maryland on the quarterfinals. It was a match in which Dowdy equally blames himself and the officiating.
Dowdy had the match seemingly all locked up, but a glance at the clock with four seconds left in regulation was enough time for Switzer to get a takedown and send the match into the extra session at 4-4.
And that’s when the officiating began to come into question. Dowdy had two apparent takedowns called out of bounds and then, when both wrestlers were nearly off onto the next mat, Switzer was awarded a very suspect two points for his winning takedown.
“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have even let it get into overtime,” admitted Dowdy, a National Prep runner-up at 135 pounds last year. “The minute I looked up, I got taken down. I was so upset at what happened in overtime, I didn’t expect to come back from that.”
Dowdy, however, showed his moxie and regrouped with a vengeance. He channeled his anger from the quarterfinal loss and reeled off four straight victories, capping his career by avenging the loss to Switzer, 3-1, in the third-place consolation bout.
“I wanted to go out as a champion this year and am not happy that it didn’t happen,” said Dowdy, who ended his career with a staggering 147 victories. “But I am happy that I won the last match of my career and went out as a winner.”
Notes: The Gray Bees finished 7th overall in the team standings with 97.5 points, just one point out of sixth place. Blair Academy cruised to it 9th straight title.
Fleckman’s team bettered last year’s team mark by three places and the second-year coach also saw five of his wrestlers reach the podium as compared to three a year ago.
“We’re moving in the right direction. Finishing seventh does show some improvement,” said Fleckman. “We have two guys who medaled coming back next year, as well as another who just missed medaling. So I would say (this weekend) went reasonably well overall.”
