Ridley Finishes Dual Season at 20-3

SCHNELL AT 599!!!!

Well, a very successful regular season has come to a close and things will soon be heating up in Haverford as the Section 5 Tournament takes place on Friday and Saturday, February 18-19. Coach Schnellenbach came within just 1 win of being only the 2^nd Pennsylvania wrestling coach to achieve 600 wins in a career. That special moment will be reserved for the 2005-2006 season but for this year’s seniors, a solid performance at Sections will ensure that their high school wrestling careers will continue for at least another week. But more on that later….

Ridley wrapped up this year’s regular season campaign with another nail-biter, this time extending the contest to the final bout to claim a 31-25 victory over Chester County’s Downingtown East. Fittingly, Ridley’s suddenly red-hot 125-pounder Ed Hall secured the team win with a dominating technical fall (16-1) in the night’s last match. Those 5 points insured a Green Raiders triumph since they entered that bout leading by just 26-25. Just as appropriately, in the contest’s first match, Ridley co-captain Matt Ziegler got things off to a smooth start with a 3-0 shutout of his opponent. In between there were some uneasy moments but ultimately Ridley found a way to win. As has been their custom, the Ridley wrestlers ranked in the Delaware County Daily Times all won their matches. 152-pounder Phil Rayer, smarting from last week’s upset loss to Upper Darby’s Jese Mariana, quickly dispatched his DE foe at 1:13 of the 1^st period. At 215 pounds, 2^nd ranked Mark Fritz manhandled his competition winning by a 10-2 margin. Solid contributors John Colberg scored a huge 3-2 nod at 171 pounds while Nick Pisani scored an impressive 16-2 win at 103. Meanwhile other Ridley wrestlers having fine seasons ran into some real experienced competition and absorbed some tough losses. But the real story was the outstanding performances of 2 behind the scenes, hard-working guys who really shined when it was most needed. Taylor Petrellis, who has been covering for the injured Cory Malampy at 145 pounds, made sure that he came away with the expected victory in his bout, doing so by a resounding 9-3 score. Similarly, at 189 Len Pinto was pressed into service and emerged with a vital 6-4 win over his Downingtown East foe. Those 2 wins provided the Green Raiders with the 6 points that were necessary to grab the team’s 20^th win. IF EITHER OF THOSE BOUTS HAD BEEEN LOST, RIDLEY WOULD HAVE GONE DOWN TO DEFEAT BY THE TIE-BREAKER (Ridley has just 1 victory by pin while Downingtown East had 2). Congratulations to all the team members on a clutch season with several matches going down to the wire!

This year’s post season should prove interesting with a number of Green Raiders entering the Sectional meet with a good chance to extend their seasons. The top 4 place winners will advance the district meet the following week where another top 4 performance would move those wrestlers onto the regional meet. We particularly wish good luck this weekend to seniors Ed Hall, Matt Ziegler, John Colberg and Mark Fritz all of whom have an outstanding opportunity to continue on to districts. Several underclassmen should also fare well, particularly the big 3 of Andrew Lopchinsky, Carl Schaaf and Phil Rayer, but in this type of do-or-die format such things as seedings and injuries can play a huge role in the ultimate outcome.