Senators supreme on the mat

Carson wrestlers dominate Capitol Duals

Dave Price

A confident Carson High wrestling team walked into Morse Burley Gymnasium to start the sixth annual Capitol City Duals on Saturday.

Things only got better from there because the Senators dominated five straight dual meets to capture the championship of their own tournament. Carson wrapped up the title a 65-15 triumph against Livingston, Calif., in the championship round.

"I thought we wrestled pretty well," said Carson coach Dean Schmanski. "This was a good start, definitely. We saw a lot of good things and we saw some things we need to work on. There's always room for improvement."

The Senators were in charge all the way as they won the Capitol City Duals for the second time in three years. Before their win over Livingston in the finals, the Senators posted victories against McQueen (62-18), Douglas (67-11), Wooster (64-12) and Reed (55-15).

One of the leaders was senior Chris Ceccarelli, who earned the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler award as he won four matches in the 189-pound weight class by fall and another by technical fall. Three of his pins came in the first round.

"I think we did gain confidence as the day went on," Ceccarelli said. "We had a lot of people step up. There were weights where we got some wins where we weren't expecting."

Ceccarelli's gold medal performance was especially impressive considering he only weighed in at 176 pounds.

"He wrestled some strong kids," Schmanski said of Ceccarelli. "He's come a ways from last year. Technically, he was more sound today. He was a lot more relaxed and mature, and his mat presence is way up."

There were some anxious moments in the championship round when the Livingston Wolves took early leads of 9-0 and 15-6. But the Senators won the next nine matches, seven by fall.

Eric Aguilera, a state tournament qualifier last season, got the ball rolling for Carson when he won the 130-pound match by a 15-4 decision. Ahron Osheroff followed with a third-round pin at 135 pounds, Kyle Cahill pinned his 140-pound opponent in the second round, freshman Travis Lamborn pinned his 145-pound opponent in the second round and Jonas Schenzel pinned his 152-pound opponent in the second round. Loren Wooldridge won by a 15-0 technical fall at 160 pounds, Joe Roman won his 171-pound match by fall in 1:40, Ceccarelli won his 189-pound match in the second round and 215-pounder Nick Shine won in 1:09, the fastest pin of the dual. Shine was a third-place medalist at state last season.

Heavyweight Eric Klug won by forfeit and freshman Robbie Bozin pinned his 119-pound opponent in 3:27 to round out the scoring for Carson.

Schmanski felt depth was one of the primary highlights of the day for the Senators, who also fielded a complete J.V. squad that finished sixth in the tournament. The J.V. Senators defeated Galena 54-12 and lost to Douglas 48-36 in the fifth-place dual.

"Having enough guys to fill two complete teams, and we filled every weight class except one (the J.V. team had no heavyweight), that was the most impressive thing to me," Schmanski said. "We also had seven kids go up and do well at the Hug J.V. tournament, so it was a pretty good day for our program overall."

Among the highlights for the J.V. Senators, Micah Whitcome was 4-0 in the 160-pound weight class, including a 4-2 decision over Tim Donahoo of Spanish Springs, who placed sixth at the state tournament last season.

The Senators host Sparks for a dual meet on Wednesday and then they compete Friday and Saturday in Scott's Valley, Calif., at the high-powered Coast Classic.

Hug Takedown Tournament ... Carson sophomore 140-pounder Brandon Moyle went 4-0 and won a gold medal in his bracket at the Hug J.V. Takedown Tournament. Freshman 152-pounder Stephen Remer finished second in his bracket, 145-pounder Matt Heath was third and freshman 160-pounder Wade Miller placed third. Brian Mustafa, Josh Martino and Shawn Staggs also competed for the Senators.