La Salle dominates Conwell-Egan on mat

In its first dual meet of the season, La Salle stormed through Conwell-Egan on Wednesday night, dominating the Eagles, 71-10, in a Catholic League match that featured eight pins and a win by major decision.

La Salle was without two of its top wrestlers, Matt Cimato and Joe Mazzi, and called up three junior varsity wrestlers for the evening. Mazzi sat with an injured hamstring, and Cimato was out because of schoolwork.

Conwell-Egan (4-5 overall, 1-2 league) won two of the 14 matches, one coming on a forfeit at 140 pounds.

After the match, La Salle coach Vic Stanley said he was pleased with the effort, in particular the performances by the JV call-ups - including wins by Mike Bowen at 145 and Sal Anderson, who pinned his opponent at 112.

Such performances exhibit the strong depth of La Salle, which expects to compete for the state championship this season.

"When you're in our room, you have to get better," Stanley said after the match, "because you're wrestling with some of the best kids in the state - with Mazzi, with Cimato, with [Casey] Kent, [Nick] Burns. I mean, those are some good kids."

The Explorers, who placed fifth at the state tournament a year ago, have excelled early this season in tournament competition, having placed eighth at the prestigious Beast of the East tournament, which featured more than 100 teams, and ninth in a field of 44 at the Powerade tournament this past weekend.

For Conwell-Egan, a squad with lesser expectations than the powerhouse Explorers, there were some positives, despite the loss. The Eagles have 10 freshmen and sophomores on their roster.

"We won matches," Eagles coach Grant Passman said. "That was a goal of ours, win a match or two and come in here and the rest of them to fare well. I'm proud."

Of La Salle's eight pins, six came within the first two minutes of the bout. Kent pinned Egan's Joe Serrano in 25 seconds at 152. Shane Springer followed at 160 and pinned Brian Garneau in 32 seconds. At 215, Anthony Pelusi defeated Brandon Scott with a technical fall, 24-9.

"For us to go in a home match and go against one of the top teams in Pennsylvania," Passman said, "with a team with two or three years' experience, my wrestlers, it makes them feel good."

For Stanley, it's just another win for a really good outfit that believes it can compete on most any level. The coach expects, he said, top-tier guys such as Kent to win all their matches. But on this night, it was about the less-heralded Explorers.

He called Anderson's pin "pretty cool," and something that epitomized the overall theme of the match.

"For me, the most joy was from our, not our regulars, I expect them to win," Stanley said. "You go into a match with guys in your right hand you expect to win, guys in your left you don't, and then guys in the middle. Well, what happened tonight, we won."

La Salle 71, Conwell-Egan 10

103: Pat McGinley, La Salle, win by forfeit. 112: Sal Anderson, La Salle, pin Jason Ward, 5:18. 119: Kolby Stein, La Salle, pin Joseph Fusaro, 1:58. 125: Roger Woerhle, La Salle, pin Anthony Carmona, 1:14. 130: Tim Walker, La Salle, pin Kyle Ranochak, 4:27. 135: Dylan Herzter, Conwell-Egan, major dec., Joe Sullivan, 13-1. 140: Anthony Spadafor, Conwell-Egan, win by forfeit. 145: Mike Bowen, La Salle, dec., Josh Brown, 6-0. 152: Casey Kent, La Salle, pin Joe Serrano, 0:25. 160: Shane Springer, La Salle, pin Brian Garneau, 0:32. 171: Nick Burns, La Salle, win by forfeit. 189: PJ Steinmetz, La Salle, pin Anthony Havrilla, 1:04. 215: Anthony Pelusi, La Salle, technical fall Brandon Scott, 24-9. 285: Ryan Geiger, La Salle, pin Nicholas Hill, 0:33.