PPT Slide
Friday, December 17, 2004
A lengthy bus ride to Mahoning County didn’t slow down the Perry Panthers, who rolled over the host Boardman Spartans in a Federal League match on Thursday evening.
“It was a long bus ride and it was crowded,” Perry coach Brian Dolph said. “Everybody was kind of anxious to get there and get started. Plus, we found out Boardman had already weighed in before us was already eating. So that made us mad a bit.”
And the Panthers went right to work venting that anger, starting with a pin by returning two-time state placer Chris Hartley at 130 pounds in his first match of the season. Hartley’s win was followed by a decision by Boardman, but the Panthers then ripped off the next nine matches to go in front 48-3.
“For the most part, we came out ready to wrestle,” said Dolph, whose team will travel to Delaware for the Beast of the East Tournament this Saturday and Sunday. “A lot of our guys wrestled really well.”
Perry picked up five pins in the match: by Hartley, Danny Genetin (103), Scott Rooney (119), Thomas Straughn (145) and Dustin Schlatter (152).
The Panthers also received technical falls from Corey Nelson (160) and Adam Phillips (171), and a forfeit victory by Devyn Hoffner (215).
“I think they came out mad after the way we wrestled at the Ironman,” said Dolph, referring to the Panthers’ 12th-place finish at the Ironman Tournament last weekend. “I got on them after that. They worked really hard in practice and picked up the intensity. They came out on fire.”
