Rockets rebound, defeat Burgettstown in consolation final
HEIDELBERG — In the aftermath of Friday night’s crushing 37-29 defeat to South Fayette in the WPIAL Class AA Team Wrestling Tournament, Jefferson-Morgan coach Mike Lesko said there would be no lingering after effect from the loss.
“It’s gone,” he said. “That’s in the past now. We’ve got to look at what’s ahead of us.”
Obviously his team listens fairly well.
The Rockets came out firing on all cylinders in the third-place consolation match Saturday at noon, handling Burgettstown, 45-22. That victory earned Jefferson-Morgan a spot in a pigtail match Monday night against a team to be determined from District 10.
“We had a long talk on the bus ride home last night,” Lesko said. “We talked about everything that happened in that match. I asked them if there were any questions or concerns and when they said, no, I said that’s it, we’re not talking about it any more. We’re focusing on Burgettstown.”
And they did a great job of focusing. The Rockets (15-3) held off the Blue Devils early in the match, but once the teams made it to 170 pounds, with Burgettstown leading 16-15, it was all Jefferson-Morgan.
Bill Bowlen (170) registered a 40-second pin. Jason Perkins (182) and Jeff Jento (195) both won by decision. Anthony Patterson (220) won by fall in 1:23, as did Ian Wolfe (285) in 1:01. Damon Belford (113) won by forfeit to cap the run.
“There were a couple keys today,” Lesko said. “We couldn’t have started at a better weight (126). We started with three wins in the first four bouts, two of those pins. That got us some momentum going. And then the job our upper weights did was just outstanding.”
Lesko pointed to Jason Miller’s 11-5 win over Stephen Kotouch at 138 pounds as a key win and at that point it was. Right after that, Burgettstown put together a mini-run, winning a pair of bouts to take the lead at 16-15.
“I kept looking at that scoreboard and kept thinking we needed to break their momentum,” Lesko said.
Bowlen’s pin in 40 seconds did just that and started an avalanche that buried the Blue Devils.
Now the immediate task ahead is a 2½-3-hour ride Monday to the wilds of northwest Pennsylvania, a place where teams like Greenville, Fort LeBouf and Saegertown have churned out great wrestling teams for years.
Lesko’s immediate concern is weigh-ins.
“This time of year it’s tough on the kids because of all the weigh-ins,” he said. “They’ve had to weigh-in Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and now Monday. For kids who are cutting weight, that’s a lot. We’re going to practice twice tomorrow to monitor weight.”
Lesko is sure they’ll handle that and knows that whoever his Rockets wrestle on Monday will get the same aggressive, intense focus that Burgettstown got Saturday.
“The kids are really excited to go, both Monday and then to Hershey,” Lesko said. “They’re fired up about riding in a coach bus. That would be a first for a lot of them.”