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The Mighty Few Vs.The Upstart New

Chester 52, Liberty 21

Chester’s First Year Varsity Success Clashes With Liberty’s Undermanned Grit For A Compelling Match

By RICHARD A. ROSS

Mortal combat: Liberty's Andy Martinez (171) looks to suppress Chester's JR Felice in the night's most captivating match. The duo fought to a 3-3 standoff after regulation and needed three overtme periods before Martinez prevailed by not allowing Felice to stand up in the final segment.

LIBERTY, NY—Not only do some of the best stories never make headlines, sometimes they don’t even make it into the newspaper boxscores. Naturally, as seasons hurtle towards sectionals, there are always the banner stories of epic wins and milestones of success rendered by individuals and teams.

But teams that are winless, like Liberty’s severely undermanned wrestling squad, or schools that are very small, like Chester, which is fielding a varsity wrestling team for the first time, marshaling some impressive wins and is undefeated in its division, are by and large unnoticed, which is a crying shame.

Liberty senior Hector Torres upends Chester's Brendan Long on one of many takedowns before pinning him in 2:30.

Watching the match that featured only six Liberty wrestlers, the last remaining warriors from ranks that were once far more robust, and Chester, which has been quietly vanquishing schools that are much larger with a group of tough kids fighting to earn some respect, this writer felt privileged to be one of the few spectators to a match that revealed so many positives.

Chester began its season back on December 8 with an impressive 58-36 win over Tuxedo in its inaugural home tourney.

Resounding wins over division rivals Eldred and Burke showed the Hambletonians as a force to be reckoned with despite their newness to the varsity realm. In fact, Chester came remarkably close to second place Goshen in its debut tourney.

Since that impressive coming out party, Chester has marshaled a split against powerful Ellenville and beaten Millbrook and Eldred for a second time. Losses have come against far more powerful schools including Onteora, Highland, Saugerties, Goshen and Monticello.

Following its win over Liberty, Chester improved to 11-6 and is 6-0 in its division.

Chester captain Luis Quiles (135) inititates one of the effective holds that led to his 18-7 wn over Vincent Webbe who was wrestiling up out of his normal weight class of 130.

For Liberty’s longtime veteran Coach John Lennon, the reality of ranks diminished by academic ineligibility and other issues is something that has been beyond his control.

A strong talk to his remaining vanguard this past week about their attitude and commitment had a pronounced impact on the team’s verve as they took on Chester on February 5.

For Chester coach John Olive, the merits of the match would come not only from garnering another win, but more importantly from the ongoing competitiveness of his wrestlers who found themselves locked up in some remarkably tough encounters.

The evening’s most competitive bout featured a triple overtime tussle between Chester’s JR Felice and Liberty’s Andy Martinez. Tied at 3-3 after regulation, the two tried every move at their disposal to get that crucial point.

In the final period, Felice opted to take the bottom position, but Martinez prevented him from standing up to garner the 4-3 victory. Of the six matches that Liberty competed in on the night, they prevailed in four including impressive pins by Torres (112) over Brendan Long in 2:30, Matt Rourke (160) over Brendan Rooney in 1:49 and by Josh Beach (285) over Guepy Georges in 1:01.

Chester’s wins came from Chris Terrace(103) who pinned Dylan Blackwell in 2:40 and an 18-7 win by Chester captain Luis Quiles (135) over Vincent Webbe.

Prior to the match, Liberty seniors Hector Torres and Josh Beach were honored.

Heavy mettle: Liberty senior Josh Beach (285) quickly dispatches Guepy Georges with a pin in 1:01.

The fierce competitiveness of the evening’s six matches wasn’t lost on Chester coach John Olive.

“Despite their numbers, I still thought it was a good match. They kept it very competitive. We had one match go into triple overtimes and it’s always great to see that,” he noted.

Asked about that feisty set-to, Olive noted, “We were hoping JR would be able to stand up and get that point and hopefully win.

Martinez wrestled a heck of a match which. It was pretty even throughout and could have gone either way,” he observed.

Due to the large number of forfeits (eight), a number of Chester’s top wrestlers including Travis Mann (140) never got to show their stuff. Olive believes that Mann, Felice, Long, Terrace and Quiles all have a chance to make some noise in the upcoming Division II sectionals scheduled to take place at Highland High School on February 15.

Lennon was very impressed with the efforts put forward by his kids. “They came here tonight ready to wrestle and wrestled some tough matches, even the losses. Asked about the Martinez victory, Lennon smiled, “He got it done the hard way but as long as you get your hand raised, that’s all that matters,” he quipped.

Pin! Chester's Chris Terrace(103) wins on this move over Liberty's Dylan Blackwell in 2:40.

“Josh, Hector and Matt came through too,” he added. Liberty will travel to Eldred on February 8 to take on the Yellow Jackets and Burke, but the results won’t figure into the sectional seedings. The match has already been postponed twice, once due to a scheduling conflict with a Youth Night at Mackenzie Elementary School and another time by dint of inclement weather.

Liberty will go up against New Paltz on February 10 before heading to sectionals. Asked about the viability of his wrestlers at sectionals, Lennon noted, “Any one of these guys could do well if they have a good day including Vinny who should get back to his normal weight class (130).

Complete results were as follows:

96 pounds: no match ; 103: Chris Terrace (C) pin Dylan Blackwell 2:40; 112: Hector Torres (L) pin Brendan Long 2:30; 119: Philip Rivera (C) d. won by forfeit; 125: Stephen Hurley (C) won by forfeit; 130:no match; 135: Luis Quiles (C) d. Vincent Webbe 18-7; 140: Travis Mann (C) won by forfeit; 145: John Barberi (C) won by forfeit; 152: Phil Velastro (C) won by forfeit; 160: Matt Rourke (L) pin Brendan Rooney 1:49; 171: Andy Martinez (L) d. JR Feliz 4-3 in triple OT; 189: John Wilson (C) won by forfeit; 215: Justin Delgado (C) won by forfeit; 285: Josh Beach (L) pin Guepy Georges 1.01.

Team records: Chester 11-6, Liberty 0-7

For an album of photos from this match and instructions on how to order reprints and other keepsakes,

CLICK HERE: http://richwriter.dotphoto.com/CPListAlbums.asp

Posted on Feb 6, 2010 in Chester, Liberty HS, Wrestling • No Comments

Fond Farewell

Monticello 54, Rondout Valley 28
After 32 years of dedicated service to the Monticello School District that included 29 years of coaching wrestling (26 as modified coach) Kyle Hoar is retiring. Hoar was honored along with senior wrestlers and scorekeepers on Senior Night. Athletic Director Doug Murphy presented Hoar with a plaque for his remarkable tenure as a coach and his service to athletes, the school and the community. Monticello won the match improving its overall record to 13-5 and 2-2 in Division III.

Eleventh Hour

Chester 57, Fallsburg 54.
In what began as a Cinderella Season for Fallsburg, the clock is approaching midnight if it is going to escape with a bid for sectionals. Once 6-0, the Comets now at 8-7 are down to three more games to get that needed ninth win and it won’t be easy. This loss to Chester staged on the Comets’ floor was a devastating one as they failed to get the stops they needed or put together a flowing offense to offset Chester’s defensive intensity.