North enters Class 4As on winning streak
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville North's wrestling team is heading into this weekend's Class AAAA Tournament with a ton of momentum.

The Spartans beat West Seneca West, 30-26, last Wednesday at West Seneca West and Orchard Park, 56-13, last Thursday at home to finish up its dual record at 13-4 overall and 5-3 in ECIC Division I, good for fourth place.

"It's been a good season," said North coach Brian Swatland. "Everything played out well. We got some injuries but we had a big enough team where we could move kids in and out of the lineup."

The Class AAAA Tournament is Friday and Saturday at Clarence High School. The top four finishers qualify for the Section VI New York State qualifier at 10 a.m. on Feb. 23 at Kenmore West. Swatland qualified five wrestlers for sectionals last year.

"It's going to be tough," said Swatland. "Most of the ranked large schools will be at the tournament. Most of our lineup is back so we'll have a fairly strong team going in."

North's win over West Seneca West was the Spartans' first over them since 2001.

The Spartans won two of its last three matches (freshman Austin Berube beat Ryan Brown, 4-0, at 125 pounds; junior Tommy Kellner defeated Scott Zawadcki, 21-3, by technical fall at 130 pounds) to seal the team win.

West Seneca West won more matches, 7-6, but North recorded two more pins, 3-1.

"It was a nice win for the program," said Swatland.

Pinfall victories for North came at 145 from junior Matt Proven (pinned Derek Bajdas in second period), 160 from senior PJ Abbarno (pinned Jay Hidy in first period) and 171 from senior Matt Aloisio (pinned Nick Casella in first period).

Junior Scott Herberger beat Matt Augustine by major decision, 9-0, at 189.

Dave Marple lost 6-4 in overtime at 112 to Christian Barrells. Tied at 2-2 going into the third period, Marple got a reversal and Barrells escaped and Marple was charged a point for stalling. In overtime, Barrells scored a takedown to pick up the win.

"Dave had a few takedowns that he was close to getting that went out of bounds," said Swatland. "He wrestled well and just lost in the end."

North only lost three matches against Orchard Park.

Mike Pitz and Berube each won by forfeit at 103 and 125, respectively. At 119, Alex Booth avenged a 12-0 loss at ECICs to Josh Zhang with a second period pin. Kellner pinned James Schroder in the first period to improve to 30-5 on the season. He has 97 career wins. The school record is 102.

Freshman Steven Liebler pinned Kevin Noworwta in the third period. Senior Abbas Rizvi defeated Vince Sisti, 16-4, by major decision, at 140. Proven pinned Connor Hoover in the first period at 145 as did Abbarno over Joe Nelsen at 160 (75th career win) and Herberger over Nick Pollinger at 189. Aloisio beat Chuck Skipper, 17-6, by major decision at 171.

It was senior night and seniors Abbarno, Aloisio, Rizvi and Mohamad Abidi, who have recorded a 35-14 record over the past four years, were honored.

"They've played a huge part in our success," said Swatland. "They're the ones who go to summer camps and become those elite wrestlers."

Besides Kellner's 30-5 mark, other Spartans with good records are Aloisio (28-6), Abbarno (27-5), Herberger (23-13), Berube (19-13), Proven (18-13), Rizvi (16-11), Booth (14-13) and Liebler (12-5).