MOUNT PLEASANT -- After dominating the King of the Hill tournament in East Liverpool, Ohio, last weekend to open the season, the Mount Pleasant wrestling team came back to display its skill in front of the home crowd on Wednesday. The Vikings recorded eight pins and lost just three bouts on the way to a 60-10 Section 2-AA win over Charleroi.
Mount Pleasant head coach Mark Mears said the match was a testament to his team's ability to stay off its back.
"We have such a good team that, if we don't get pinned, this team is going to be tough to stop," he said.
Donnie Ament set the tone in the first matchup of the night when he went in front of Joe O'Dowd by a couple of takedowns before earning a pin in the second period of their 145-pound bout.
"I thought the key match was Donnie's. O'Dowd is one of their better guys," Mears said, explaining that it was nice to have a veteran wrestler go out first and score a pin. "It settled things down right away for us."
Ament's victory put the Vikings up 6-0, but the Cougars put together a string of wins to pull even and then take the lead. At 152, Derek Johnson got the edge over Ed Moorhead with a reversal in the second period and stayed just ahead of him for the 4-2 decision. Dave Cerillo handled his 160-pound bout with Mike Brown in much the same fashion, also recording a 4-2 decision to bring Charleroi into a 6-6 tie. Corey Hazy took an early lead over Jake Hoffer at 171 on the way to a 10-1 major decision that put the Cougars ahead, but Mount Pleasant was quick to recover.
Dan Cavalcante needed just 18 seconds to pin Coleman Kirtley in the 189-pound bout, handing the Vikings a 12-10 edge. A forfeit to Paul Snyder at 215 made it 18-10, and a nice effort from heavyweight Harlen Funk saw him go up 4-0 over Ethan Rudonile before recording a second-period fall.
Shane Suranski (103) took a forfeit as Mount Pleasant gained a 30-10 lead, and Allen Park controlled his 112-pound bout against Mike Todaro from the start, pinning Todaro in 52 seconds.
Mears said Park moved up to replace Ty Vanella, who couldn't make the start.
"Allen did a really nice job moving up to wrestle 112 tonight," he said. "That's why you have depth."
There was no match at 119, so the Vikings took their 36-10 lead into the 125-pound bout, where Zach Holt added six more points with his 49-second pin of Brett Doerfler. Lee Vanella planked Vinnie DeStefano halfway through their 130-pound match, and Joe Geary (135) took Mike Flament to the mat in just over a minute and a half.
Nic Harr battled Casey Gavazzi through two periods, eventually putting him on his back early in the third to wrap up the victory.
Mount Pleasant will compete in the Central Mountain/Wildcat Tournament this weekend.
