Boyertown proves it's class of league by routing Indians

by Don Seeley, Pottstown Mercury Sports Editor

Posted on January 15, 2009

RED HILL — In so many words, Alex Pellicciotti admitted he and his Boyertown teammates wanted one of those no-doubt-about-it wins.

They got it.

And got it against Upper Perkiomen, their longtime Pioneer Athletic Conference rival that for nearly a decade set the standard for no-doubt-about-it wins.

The Bears swept nine of the first 11 bouts Wednesday night, denying the hosts any early momentum, putting a gag on the vocal hometown crowd and choking the wrestling life out of the host Indians in a 43-17 romp.

"We put everything we had into this," said Pellicciotti, who moved up to 140 pounds and posted a 4-0 shutout for his 100th career win. "We just didn't want (Upper Perkiomen) to have a chance to win.

"We were pretty confident coming in. We knew we could beat them. There were a few toss-up matches. but we got them all. This feels great."

And well it should.

For Pellicciotti, not to mention the rest of the Bears, were determined to get this one out of the way, imnprove to 4-0 (12-4 overall), and set the tone for the rest of the regular season in their attempt to pin down a third straight PAC-10 title ... one without an asterisk, one without someone else's name next to them.

"We have a ways to go yet," Pellicciotti said. "But this was the big one.

"We want to win the PAC-10 championship with no questions. The first one (2007) was on a technicality (after Upper Perkiomen was forced to forfeit the title due to an eligibility issue), and the last one (2008) was shared it (with Spring-Ford). We want this one badly."

They showed that from the outset, when Jeremy Minich (18-4) pinned and Matt Malfaro (19-5) won a 9-3 decision at 112 and 119, respectively. Garrett Fellman brought the Indians (3-1, 12-7) back into momentarily with a very workmanlike 2-0 blanking of Jon Neiman at 125.

But when Trevor MacMinn pinned, Adam Benfield followed with a decision and Pellicciotti added in his decision from 130 to 140, the Bears were well in front, 21-3. Upper Perkiomen's Cody Ambrose ran up a technical fall at 145, but before a teammate of his would get a hand raised again the outcome was out of the Indians' reach.

That's because Tim Feroe (20-5) pinned at 152, Tyler Mauger turned a 2-0 deficit into an 8-2 win at 160, and Ryan Schwager came up with his first win of the season -- a match-clinching pin at 171.

"On paper we thought we had five (wins) and Upper Perk had at least two," said Boyertown head coach Pete Ventresca, who got his final two wins of the evening on Zach Heffner's decision at 189 and Adam Kolb's major in the 103 finale. "That left a lot of toss-ups, matches that could go either way. We were fortunate to get (the toss-ups). Believe me, there were a couple of close matches there that, had they gone the other way, would've meant one very tight match.

"But out kids came to wrestle. They were up for this, ready to go. They went out there and wrestled aggressively. I felt they were hitting on all cylinders."

So did Upper Perkiomen head coach Tom Hontz.

"We had to roll the dice and go for the win," Hontz explained. "We bumped some people up, and there's a risk with doing that. But (Boyertown's) a very good team.

"They were tough. Our kids had the heart and effort, but (Boyertown) had the better talent. We just couldn't get anything going."

The Bears saw to that early on, and didn't surrender two wins in a row until the Indians' Nick Edmonson (9-4) took an 11-5 decision at 215 and Jared Bennett (22-2) accepted a forfeit at 285.

But that was much too little ... and much too late.

"We still have to take one match at a time," Ventresca said, "We didn't win anything yet.

"But we knew we absolutely needed this one. This is a big rivalry, a great event."

NOTES

Boyertown went without senior standout Ryan Kemmerer, who was suspended earlier in the week for violating a team rule. He is reportedly due back this month. ... Pellicciotti (23-2) on his 100th win: "It's something I've really wanted. Doing it tonight, and doing it here, adds a lot to it. It's definitely one of my biggest wins." ... The Bears finished with a 19-12 advantage in takedowns, with Ambrose accounting for five of them himself en route to the technical fall.

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