It was a narrow loss for Red Hook’s grapplers on Jan. 30, but it wasn’t without its bright side. Despite falling to the Onteora Indians, 40-39, Red Hook grappler Matt Rauch (120 lb) grabbed his 33rd win of the year, putting him one match away from an undefeated regular season.
“He’s got a good chance to do it –- actually, he’s got a great chance,” Red Hook head coach Nick Fredericks told The Observer after the meet.
(In a meet the following day against Rondout, Rauch won by pin, capping an undefeated regular season. See Sports Shorts for more details.)
Red swapped leads with Onteora throughout the meet. Jon Torres (126) wrestled in the opening meet against Onteora’s Avery Leighton and lost 6-5 in full time, giving up two points in the final two seconds for the loss. Aaron Barkstrom (132) won in full time over the Indians’ Bernie Smith, 4-0.
Red Hook’s Luis Garcia (138) scored a vicious pin via splaydle over Onteora’s Dylan Little after 42 seconds. Anthony Depaoli followed him with a win over Godfrey Lucas after 57 seconds. After a pin from Mike Rauch (182) over Ricky Scott after 1:04, Darren Coon (195) lost Red Hook’s first non-forfeit match in three regulation matches, falling to Onteora’s Andrew Friedel in :47 seconds.
Ben Zitz (220) went full time against Onteora’s Dustin Mackenzie, but lost 1-0. Taylor Benson (99) registered a pin against Dillon Ross after 1:03, and Red’s Jake Kelly (106) fell to Zach Chartrand, 14-6, in full time. Finbat Stuart pinned Henry Tynes after 1:49, and Matt Rauch claimed the marquee match against Brandon Moore after 3:20.
Onteora won by forfeit in the 152, 160, and 170 weight classes, and Will Brammer had Red Hook’s only win by forfeit in the 285 weight class.
“We had some seniors really step it up tonight, and there were some rough matches like at 132 for Aaron (Barkstrom). Jon Torres just lost his match at 126, which was a big match because that’s a kid (Avery Leighton) who’s been to states a couple of times. Luis had a big win, Anthony DePaoli had a huge win for us,” Fredericks said. “I’m proud of the guys: they stepped up. You’re not going to get a pin every match, but they can get one when they need it. What happens next in the Section isn’t up to us. We would have liked the win, but we’ve got to tip our hats to (Onteora). They’re a great team.”
Red Hook fell to 11-16 overall on the season and 2-3 in the section after the match.
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