PPT Slide
Panthers slam Polar BearsWrestling is all about practicing what the coaches preach. The Perry Panthers did it on Thursday night in a dual-match against Jackson. The Polar Bears didn’t. That’s why the scoreboard inside the Jackson gymnasium read: Perry 54, Jackson 14. “We’ve been talking a whole lot about consistency,” said Perry coach Brian Dolph, whose team is now 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the Federal League. “I’ve been seeing it a lot more in practice. I think they’re really starting to take it out to the mat with them. You have to wrestle consistently, no matter who the opponent is. “I didn’t think (Jackson) was going to be real strong, but they had some good guys in their lineup. I knew they were going wrestle hard. So we had to wrestle smart and wrestle consistently.” The only thing consistent for the Polar Bears was that they saw every toss-up match go the way of the Panthers. After going up 4-0 after a Adam Haas major decision at 130 pounds, Jackson watched Perry rip off nine straight wins – eight with bonus points, and five via pin – to take a 45-4 lead with four matches remaining. “We needed everything to go perfectly if we wanted to have a chance against Perry,” said Jackson coach Dan Funk, whose team falls to 15-6 overall and 2-3 in the league. “That didn’t happen. The only matches we won were the ones we were supposed to win. We knew we needed to get some of those other matches, and we didn’t. “I’m not happy at all with the effort. We had been steadily progressing the last month or so. We took a step back tonight.” The consistent effort Dolph was seeking came not just from leaders like Dustin Schlatter and Thomas Straughn – both of whom won via pin – but from other Panthers who stepped up to meet a challenge. Zach Messer, for one, turned a 4-1 first-period deficit to Zach Petroff into a 17-9 major decision at 140 to give the Panthers an 8-4 lead which served as a springboard for the rest of the match. “Those are the guys we need to count on,” Dolph said. “Those are the guys we need to see that consistent effort from. That’s what is going to get us over the top once the tournament comes around and help us beat St. Edward.” If there was any doubt after Adam Phillips’ 16-2 major decision over Jon Basso at 171, it was quickly erased by the Panthers’ heaviest wrestlers. Dustin Shilling (189), Devyn Hoffner (215) and Adam Richards (heavyweight) posted three straight pins to make it 45-4 Panthers as the lineup turned over to 103 pounds. Jackson would get its final two wins in the last four matches. Dante Rini major decisioned Danny Genetin 10-2 at 103 and Ben Johnson posted a pin at 125 to cap the evening, sandwiched around a Scott Rooney (112) pin and a Chris Hartley (119) decision for Perry. Rini was making his first appearance on the mat against his former team. Last year, he qualified for the state tournament as a freshman at Perry, but returned to Jackson – where he resides – this season. “Dante wrestled his best match of the season,” Funk said. “I mean all-around match. And he did it against a pretty good kid in Genetin.”