By: Jeremy Park
The atmosphere in the 2020 Center on Wednesday was electric for Garnet Valley Wrestling’s Senior Night. The lights dimmed, Jag Nation was packed, and the opposition brought a healthy fan section of their own. The Strath Haven Panthers walked in looking to disrupt GV’s Central League title-winning streak. The Jags did not let that happen, as they rolled their way to a 39-24 victory.
Freshman Nolan Carroll led off for Garnet Valley at 120 pounds against Haven’s Gabe Broome. Carroll controlled the entire six minutes for an 11-4 victory to start the match off 3-0. Matt Ricci won by forfeit to put an additional six on the board.
Haven scored their first points of the night with a 7-2 decision from Sam Harrington over Shane Layer at 132 pounds.
138 pounder Dan Husain got the first pin of the night over Galvan Gihunia. CJ Wood made it two straight against Andrew Reilly at 145.
Freshman Massimo Iavarone, thrown into the lineup for his first career varsity match, stunned the entire room with a miraculous comeback against Noah Price at 152 pounds. Iavarone, down 7-0 in the 3rd period, tossed Price to the ground with a vicious headlock for a pin. The Garnet Valley bench, Jag Nation, and every GV parent went wild as the lead extended to 27-3.
After 3 straight Garnet Valley pins, Strath Haven started a comeback of their own, with three straight wins. Kelton Brunner earned four points with a 16-7 victory over Shane Olinger at 160, Chase Barlow, who placed 7th at states last year, earned five with a technical fall over Jared Park at 172, and Sam Milligan pinned Brandon Lieberman at 189 to put the score at 27-18.
The last four matches went back and forth, starting with a pin from Garnet Valley’s Sam Ditrolio over Anthony Crawford at 215. In the longest match of the night, heavyweights Nick Mahoney and Ben Farabaugh stretched the usual six-minute match to double overtime, where Farabaugh eeked out an ultimate ride out for 3 points.
Dominic May (GV) at 106 pinned AJ Turner (SH) to secure the team win. Ben Milligan (SH) earned 3 points with a decision against Ethan Bliss to end the night.
With a 39-24 win, the Garnet Valley Mat Jags sealed their 5th straight outright Central League dominance. Several wrestlers will look to qualify for states in Hershey.
SenioMark Emery, Sam DiTrolio, Dan Husain, Nick Mahoney, Shane Olinger, EJ Palmer, Jared Park, Matt Ricci, Shasi Vadlamudi, CJ Wood
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