RIDLEY WRESTLING SEASON OFF TO A SOLID START

There’s nothing like thoroughly dominating your first opponent to get confidence up and spirits rolling. Ridley did just that on December 8^th when they dismantled a game Harriton (Montgomery County) squad. Particularly satisfying were the varsity debut victories by Chris Baer and Andrew Lopchinsky. Chris was a last minute selection to grapple at the 119-pound weight slot and ended up pinning his opponent early in the 2^nd period. Andrew showed the skills he had honed while a member of the Ridley Rough Riders feeder program and the Ridley Middle School in route to a 1^st period pin of his over-matched 135-pound Ram wrestler. Both wrestlers have great futures ahead of them.

Most of the other matches were true to form with experienced Ridley wrestlers overwhelming the opposition. John Colberg started the evening’s event with a 3^rd period pin to stake Ridley to a 6-0 lead. Steve Sweeney then ran into a tough and experienced 189-pounder, scored well but still came up on the short end of a 15-8 score. Mark Fritz (215 pounds) dispatched his Ram opponent by pin halfway through the 2^nd period and that was followed by Fran Rowles “technique” pin over a seemingly stronger opponent at heavyweight. The score at this point read Ridley 18- Harriton 3 and the onslaught was just beginning.

After Nick Pisani was awarded forfeit at 103, the Ridley fans were rewarded with a look at one of the best 112-pounders in the area. Harriton’s Damien DiStefano is a regional qualifier who is approaching his senior season in the same mindset as Ridley’s Eddie Hall- nothing less than a visit to the state championships at Hershey is acceptable. Ridley’s Tim Handley fought off Damien’s attempts to record a pin despite a number of stops in the action for bleeding on Tim’s part. Sometimes survival against a superior opponent can be an impressive feat and Tim managed to do just that. No doubt DeStefano expected Handley to go down but it was not to be. A good show by Tim. That match was followed by Baer’s pin at 119 and then it was Eddie Hall’s turn to show off his menacing style at 125. It took just over a minute for Hall to flatten his guy and now the Ridley lead had swelled to 36-7.

At 130, Matt Ziegler proceeded to add to the streak of Ridley pins with a fall in just 55 seconds, the second fastest pin of the evening. Lopschinsky followed with his decking and the hard-nosed Carl Schaaf pinned his 140-pound Ram in just 1:22. At 145, Cory Malampy controlled his opponent throughout while earning a 16-4 major decision. The seasoned 152-pound lacrosse goalie/smooth wrestler Phil Rayer, easily gained a major decision by 11-3. The night’s action was closed out Dan McAndrew who recorded the fastest pin of the evening by decking his opponent in just 36 seconds. The final score of the year’s first match: Ridley 68, Harriton 7.0