Mustang Wrestlers Pull Through January

A roller coaster January ended on a high note for the George Mason wrestlers at the prestigious Ram Rumble at Lafayette HS in Williamsburg this past weekend. All Mustangs wrestled well but Nick Pitas (125) and John Sullivan (171) excelled and ended their weekend with trips to the medalist’s podium, Pitas finishing sixth and Sullivan fourth.

The month began on a low note when the Mustangs faced Strasburg on Jan. 5. Already forfeiting five weight classes due to lack of wrestlers, the team found itself without Bob Bumgarner (160) due to illness and John Sullivan (171), who was laid up because of an emergency appendectomy performed while he was on Winter Break in Montana. The final score was 68-18 with Willie Hoover the lone winner for Mason. The following week against Clarke was not much better. Again forfeits gave Clarke an instant lead and the Eagles went on to record victories over all Mustangs except for Nick Pitas and Michael Coleman. Bumgarner and Sullivan were again sidelined in the 48-15 defeat at the hands of the Eagles. Things picked up however on Saturday the 15th when the Mustangs hosted North Stafford, New Kent, Edison, and a team composed of varsity members from all the participants. Leading the Mustangs on the day were Nick Pitas, Mike Coleman, and Willie Hoover who each went 4-0. Still without Sullivan and Bumgarner, the Mustangs turned to freshmen Ramsey Hanna and Barratt Kennett to fill in at 160 and 171 respectively and added two more freshmen, Mark Palmieri (112) and Joseph Kendra (145) to the lineup in two previously unfilled weight classes. In an impressive debut Kennett won three matches and Hanna two, while Palmieri and Kendra performed well.

Afterward coach Pitas remarked: “These young guys really stepped up when we needed them and provided the team with some much needed points but more importantly they gave us a morale boost today by competing so well against much more experienced opponents.”

Also performing well were Tash Khan (119), Andy Millar (135), and Rick Schumann (189) who each went 2-2.

A snowy week caused major disruption of the schedule mid month when two District matches had to be postponed. The scheduled meeting on the 19th against Rappahannock County has been reset for this Saturday Feb. 5 as part of a six team super dual tournament and the match against Manassas Park originally marked for Saturday the 22nd has been rescheduled to Feb. 9 at Park.

By the time the team traveled to Williamsburg this past weekend for the Ram Rumble, a double elimination tournament hosted by Lafayette High, it had been two weeks since their last competition and no one was sure how this would affect the squad. Perhaps it was being anxious to get back on the mats after such a long layoff or maybe it was relief over the end of exams but when the Mustangs hit Williamsburg they were ready to Rumble. Led by Sullivan in his first competition since having his appendix removed on Dec. 22, and Pitas, the team reeled off a number of wins and when competition resumed on Saturday Sullivan and Pitas were in the semifinals of their weight classes and Coleman, Khan, Kendra, Hoover, Hanna, and Schumann were all very much in the running. Lack of experience caught up with Palmieri, Khan, Kendra, Hanna, and Schumann however and they were eliminated early in the wrestle backs while Coleman and Hoover made it to the final pre-medal round before bowing out. By the tournament’s end however Sullivan and Pitas had came through with medals.

The Mason wrestlers return to action on Saturday, Feb. 5 with a home meet featuring a visit by local rivals McLean, Marshall, Yorktown, and Osbourn Park, plus Bull Run District foe Rappahannock County. The action starts at 10 a.m. and will continue on three mats until 5 p.m.

Mike Hume may be emailed at mhume@fcnp.com