Wildcats give Caldwell smashing sendoff

Published 8:59 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

The Mount Si High School wrestling team sent head coach Bruce Caldwell off with a bang last week as they dismantled the Skyline wrestling team 79-0, only five points short of a perfect score.

It was a fitting meet for a coach who will hang up his whistle and clipboard to face colon cancer.

Tyler Austin led the action at 152 pounds with a quick pin of Skyline’s Steve Sondergaard with 35 seconds left in the first round. Teammate Chris Ippolito followed in the same style, pinning Skyline’s Dave Bohner with 15 seconds left in the first round.

In the 171-pound class, Wildcat Brian Lewis won by technical fall over the Spartans’ Mike Whelan, 16-0, to boost the Mount Si team score to 17-0. The meet then moved to the 189-pound class where Trevor Moore controlled the match from the start. He recorded two takedowns and a reversal in the first round before finally pinning the Trojan’s Matt Schrader with 1:13 left in the second round.

Mount Si won by forfeit at 103, 112, 215 and 275 pounds to take a commanding 47-0 lead going into the 119-pound class.

In what appeared to be one of the closer matches of the night, the Wildcats’ Matt Haas faced Skyline’s Wes Richards. Haas scored the first takedown, grabbing Richards’ leg and pulling him, but the move was quickly reversed. In the second round, starting from neutral positions, Haas again scored the takedown followed by a two-point nearfall. Finally, late in the first round Haas found the right combination and pinned Richards.

Mount Si continued the effort as the elder Haas, Alex, pinned his opponent late in the second round. Alex had dominated from the beginning with several takedowns and nearfalls.

For the complete story, pick up a copy of this weeks Valley Record