WELCOME HOME: WRESTLING TEAM ENDS SLIDE

February 10, 2009

The St. Benedict's wrestling team was glad to be back home in the friendly confines of Dalton Gymnasium on Tuesday. The team had a matinee against Cliffside Park and ended a four-match skid that came on the road.

Coach Mike DiPiano's wrestling team, however, got off to another inauspicious start before righting the ship against Cliffside Park.

The Gray Bees lost the first two bouts and found themselves trailing, 12-0, when Zach Jacobs stepped on the mat wrestling his first match of the season up a weight class at 125 pounds.

It look as though things were going to get much worse for coach Mike DiPiano's team when Jacobs found himself on his back staring up at the lights in Dalton Gym.

But Jacobs, somehow, summoned enough strength while bridging and caught his opponent with a headlock to turn the tides for a pin himself - the 22nd of the season for the sophomore - to give the Gray Bees their first victory of the day.

Just like that. Instead of trailing by 18 points, the Gray Bees found themselves trailing only by six with Jacobs' pin, which ignited his team to a nine-bout winning streak. The final result: St. Benedict's 51, Cliffside Park 12.

"I was really nervous wrestling today and wasn't confident coming into this match," said Jacobs. "I hadn't wrestled at 125 before and didn't really know what to expect."

Jacobs' apprehensions were apparent from the beginning when he was taken down in the first period and trailed 2-1 before being turned to his back early in the second. But that's when instincts took over and Jacobs was able to turn his opponent from his own back for the fall in 2:45.

"I guess I'm just flexible," said the 30-15 Jacobs of explaining how he got out of that unenviable position to win the bout. "I'm just glad I was able to not let my team down and get the pin."

Jacobs' pin was followed by a first period pin at 130 pounds by Chris Dowdy. After Naeem Boucher scored a major decision at 135, the Gray Bees reeled off pins in every bout that was contested on the mat.

The highlight of the four-bout pinning spree came when Turtgotkh Luvsandorj scored a 13-second pin at 160 pounds. Isaiah Cromwell (189) and Xavier Vassell also scored first period falls.

But it was Jacobs, who got it all started for the 19-7 wrestling team.

"I've been gaining more and more confidence as the season progresses," he said. "I just hope I can keep it going and bouts likes this can only help."

– By Ron Jandoli