Spartans finish second at Grand Island Duals
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville North took second at the Grand Island Duals Tournament last Saturday at Grand Island High School but had some matches gone their way, the Spartans could have come out as the overall winners.

North lost to Grand Island on the last match to fall, 38-30, in the final.

Spartan junior Matt Proven was pinned by Grand Island's Anthony Gugino at 5:04 at 152 pounds to clinch the team win for the Vikings. Going into the third period, Proven was losing 6-4. If Proven won, the overall score would have been tied. The tiebreaker would have been whichever team that had earned the most wins, which was North, 8-7. Proven finished 2-2.

"Matt's one of our best wrestlers and we count on him to be able to pull out a win," said North coach Brian Swatland. "But it shouldn't have come down to him. We had other chances in matches to pin other kids and we didn't and lost a couple of matches that I thought we weren't going to lose."

One of those matches was at 215 pounds. North senior Mohammad Abidi was called twice for stalling in the last 40 seconds of the match, the second time with three seconds left, to give his opponent, Eric Harnden, a point to tie the match. Abidi lost, 5-3, in overtime.

Swatland did not agree with the second stalling call.

"I understand if the kid was shooting and Mohammad was running around trying to avoid him but that wasn't the case," said Swatland. "With about 11 seconds left, the Grand Island kid was just standing there and not trying to shoot. There wasn't even an attempt. It was a terrible call."

The Spartans also lost tough matches at the lightweights. Freshmen Mike Pitz and Dave Marple each got two wins at 103 and 112 pounds, respectively, during the tournament but each fell against Grand Island. Swatland said both avoided getting pinned several times throughout the tournament. Pitz lost 15-0 to Grand Island's Joe Amsdill but avoided getting pinned four times.

"Performances like that are critical to the success of the team," said Swatland.

Sophomore Alex Booth went 3-1 at 119. His only loss came against Grand Island. Senior PJ Abbarno fell to Grand Island's Alex Webb, 1-0, at 160. Abbarno finished the day 3-1.

Seventh-grader Travis Berube (96, pin in 1:28); freshmen Austin Berube (125, 12-0 major decision) and Steven Liebler (130, 4-1); juniors Tommy Kellner (135, pin in 2:34) and Scott Herberger (189, 4-0); and seniors Abbas Rizvi (145, 4-3) and Matt Aloisio (171, pin in 34 seconds) earned wins for the Spartans against Grand Island.

Until the Grand Island match, North had a great day. They beat Depew, 66-15, Amherst, 56-10 and Lackawanna, 67-0.

Travis Berube, Liebler, Kellner, Rizvi, Aloisio and Herberger each went 4-0. Austin Berube was 3-1.

The duals tournament improved North's record to 7-2. The Spartans won at Williamsville South last Wednesday, 49-13, and lost to Jamestown, 35-21, last Friday.

Booth (119, 11-1); Austin Berube (112, pin in one minute); Liebler (130, 5-2); Kellner (135, pin in 1:06); junior Ben Martin (140, pin in 1:29); Rizvi (145, 4-2); Proven (152, 11-3); Abbarno (160, pin in 41 seconds); Aloisio (171, tech fall, 17-2); and Herberger (189, pin in 3:47) picked up victories against South.

Luke Falzone (103, 6-2); Anthony Libapore (112, 8-0); and Elliot Frank (215, pin in 3:30) earned victories for the Billies.

Liebler (130, 4-0); Kellner (135, 9-2); Proven (152, 5-1); Abbarno (160, pin in 2:28); and Aloisio (171, pin in 1:49) won against Jamestown.

North wrestles at Akron at 6 p.m. on Thursday. They travel to Hamburg and Lancaster on Dec. 19 and 21, respectively.

"The kids have put the time in the offseason," said Swatland. "They younger kids have been doing well. We have some weaknesses like any team but we have a nice blend of really good kids and above average kids. We don't have terrible kids and that is a credit to coach (Jim) Lamb on modified (now Swatland's assistant on varsity)."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com