Guilford Wrestling Gives Undefeated Hand its Best Shot

The Guilford wrestling team knew that if it had a chance to knock off undefeated Hand it would have to come out swinging. Well, the Indians swung and connected first, but it was the muscle of the Tigers that finished the match.

Guilford hosted undefeated Hand on Jan. 25 in a Southern Connecticut Conference interdivision match-up. Honoring its lone senior in Ray Sherwood on Senior Night, the Indians rode an emotional high to wins in two of the first three bouts. But as they have done all season long, the Tigers proved why they are 19-0 and the second-ranked team in the state, turning four straight pins and 10 straight wins into a 57-15 loss for Guilford, which is now 9-10.

"We are definitely going to learn from our mistakes; I'm the only senior so next year they are going to be great," said Sherwood. "They are a young team, very inexperienced, but we will learn from this match, look over the tape, and definitely learn from the mistakes we made."

The match opened at 170 pounds, pitting Sherwood against Kevin Wivell. Sherwood was wrestling at 170 for only the second time this season. In was a grind-it-out type match that saw Sherwood take an early 2-0 lead, then Wivell tie the score at 2-2. Wivell grabbed a hold of Sherwood's leg at one point in the third period, sending the senior down to the mat with an apparent ankle injury. But Sherwood fought through fatigue and pain, winning the bout in a 3-2 decision.

"I really wanted to go out there and give it 100 percent; I cut 10 pounds and it showed in the match," Sherwood said. "It was not the way I wanted to pull it off, but I'm glad I won. It was a big match for me, [Wivell] is a good kid' he is ranked I believe so I'll definitely be seeing him in SCCs or states."

Said Guilford coach Craig Vedrani of Sherwood: "He looked a little drained in the third period, but he dug deep and found a way to win that match. That is what winners do; they find a way to win."

Hand's Carter Chatillon then defeated Colton Schilling at 182, earning a pin just 28 seconds into the bout to set up the most exciting match of the night.

Guilford's Tony Dinse and Victor Buschetto squared off at 220 in a bout that came down to the final second. Buschetto built an early 6-0 lead and held a 6-2 edge heading into the third period, yet Dinse never quit battling, cutting the advantage to 6-4 before flipping and pinning Buschetto with one second left in the match. Guilford's only other bout win came at 195, where Mark Lisitano pinned Mike Berky with 1:30 remaining in the second period.

"I'm very proud of Tony; he is one of the hardest workers we have," said Vedrani. "He lost a tough match here last week in overtime and to see him bounce back, win a close match like that to pin the kid with one second, it was awesome."

Hand's strength rested in its heaviest and lightest competitors as first senior Joe DeMichele, a heavyweight, got the Tigers back on track by starting a run of 10 straight wins when he pinned Guilford's David Cooper in just 20 seconds.

The Tigers followed the pin by DeMichele with three more pins as Matt Elias (106) defeated Colin Pittorie, Jonah Lewis (113) defeated Brandon Hallaway, and Kevin Mallon (120) pinned Nate Monte.

"They are so experienced they controlled all the matches, but I thought all of our kids fought hard," said Vedrani.

Hand's Tucker MacGregor (138) then defeated Josh Malamud, pinning him with 28 seconds remaining in the first period, and Jake Savoca (145) had the Tigers' final pin, beating Nate Misbach 1:28 into the second period.

At 126, the Tigers' Andrew Kennally bested Jake Lundberg by the final bout score of 10-4. Additionally, Hand's Justin Elias earned a win over Kevin Carregal at 132 with a technical fall, Ben Onofrio won a 9-1 bout for the Tigers over Brendon Carney at 152, and Connor Carroll earned the final win for Hand at 160 with a 6-0 defeat of Scott Primavara.

"We film all the kids' matches and I have them take it home and study what they are doing wrong," Vedrani said. "We have a very young team; we probably only have a handful of kids who have more than two year's experience. We have decent numbers and good athletes; we are just learning how to wrestle right now."