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KINGSTON — He paced. He glanced at the mat occasionally. All along, Wyoming Seminary 145-pounder Alfonso Martinez knew the match would probably come down to his bout.
He watched Austin Cooley pump up the crowd with a first-period pin at 182. The freshman from Arizona saw teammate Jack Davis win a heart-stopper in a highly-competitive bout with Blair Academy’s Nick Cannon – both nationally-ranked wrestlers.
Yes, this is the stuff dreams are made of, and Martinez didn’t disappoint – creating a memory that’s going to last a lifetime. At that precise moment, he also etched his name in Luzerne County wrestling history when he sealed the upset of the nation’s top-ranked high school wrestling team.
Looking like a seasoned veteran instead of a nervous freshman, Martinez continually dumped Blair’s Anthony DeMartino to the mat en route to an 11-2 major decision. The victory in the last bout broke a 27-27 tie as Wyoming Seminary upset Blair Academy, 31-27, in front of a standing-room only crowd Friday at the Carpenter Athletic Center.
Blair actually won eight of the 14 weight classes, but Seminary got bonus points in all but one of its victories.
“There was a lot of pressure because I didn’t want to underperform and lose it for my team,” Martinez said. “I am just so proud of myself, and I’m so happy to be here. I feel like a superstar.”
It’s hard to point out one specific turning point. Actually, there were three huge momentum-swinging moments.
When Seminary needed a spark, enter Cooley. In the prior three matches, the Blue Knights hadn’t scored a single offensive point and had given up five takedowns. The sophomore erased that three seconds into the match, dumping Braden Worthington on a double-leg takedown before sticking his shoulders to the Resilite later in the period.
“We believed that we could beat Blair,” Seminary head coach Scott Green said. “We knew they had four returning national prep champs and a bunch of guys ranked above us in weight classes. Austin’s pin, I can’t tell you how big that was. It got this crowd going, and they were just part of one of the best high school athletic atmospheres they will ever see. We needed Austin to start things for us.”
The second turning point came just seconds into the 113-pound bout as Blair’s nationally-ranked wrestler, No. 4 Michael Colaiocco, appeared to turn his ankle. He used up all of his injury time, and to his credit, attempted to gut it out. But it was too severe and led to an injury-default win for Sem’s Mosha Schwartz.
And Davis? Well, he was the final turning point.
In a battle of top-20 ranked wrestlers, Davis bore in and immediately took down Blair’s Nick Cannon in the opening period.
That takedown was the difference as the Hanover Township native hung on for a 3-2 victory.
The junior turned right to the Seminary student section and waved his hands up and down. With the electricity flowing and his classmates rocking, the Blue Knights led 27-20 with just three bouts left.
That’s when the real feel of the upset started to set in.
“This means everything to us,” Davis said. “We were No. 10. They were No. 1. No one really gave us a shot. But we fought through to the last match. It was an honor to be out here. When you get that first takedown in a match, it means the world. You can sense the momentum you get.”
Nationally ranked Zach Sherman (132) and Malcolm Robinson (138) won the next two weights for Blair, knotting the match up at 27-27 and setting the stage for Martinez at 145.
“I had so much confidence in Alfonso. I knew he was going to do it for us. I had no doubt,” Davis said.
Davis was right. Martinez had it from the opening whistle.
The freshman shot in for a quick two points in the early second, and used a slick, single-to-double leg takedown at the edge of the circle for a 4-1 lead that he increased to 6-2 after two periods.
“That kid (Martinez) came here from Arizona,” Green said. “He changed his life, and left his family and friends behind. He had the opportunity to make a memory. I told everyone that no one will forget this match for the rest of their lives. And Alfonso is at the center of it.”
Beau Bartlett and Mansur Abdul-Malik added falls for Seminary in the victory.
Coughlin 60, Pittston Area 18
Jamie Pahler, Jake Brown and Josh Brown closed the meet with three straight pins in contested matches to punctuate Coughlin’s victory.
Pahler recorded a pin in 42 seconds at 113, and Coughlin’s Joe Rey won by forfeit, Jake Brown recorded his pin at 126 early in the second period and Josh Brown took down his opponent in 31 second at 132.
Josh McGilvary picked up a pin at 152 for the Patriots.
H.S. WRESTLING
Wyoming Seminary 31, Blair Academy 27
106 — Nick Incontrera, B, dec. Drew Munch, 7-3; 113 — Mosha Schwartz, WS, won by injury default over Michael Colaiocco; 120 — Beau Bartlett, WS, pinned Mike Madara, 1:10; 126 — Jack Davis, WS, dec. Chris Cannon, 3-2; 132 — Zach Sherman, B, dec. Jake Reigel, 4-2; 138 — Malcolm Robinson B, maj dec. Will Moss, 11-3; 145 — Alfonso Martinez, WS, maj dec. Anthony DeMartino, 11-2; 152 — Will Kaiser, B, dec. Jake Stefanowicz, 5-3; 160 — Julian Ramirez, B, dec. Darrien Roberts, 6-1; 170 — Leo Tarantino, B, dec. Jake Hendricks, 8-1; 182 — Austin Cooley, WS, pinned Braden Worthington, 1:19; 195 — Nick Mosco, B, dec. Dillon Ryan, 3-2; 220 — Chase Singletary, B, tech fall over Mike Doggett, 17-1, 5:18; 285 — Mansur Abdul-Malik, WS, pinned Kraig Correll, 2:38.
Note: Match started at 152.
Coughlin 60, Pittston Area 18
106 — Brandon Lopez (PA) dec. Nino Cinti, 7-2; 113 — Jamie Pahler (COU) pinned Jayden Zeller, 0:42; 120 — Joe Rey (COU) won by forfeit; 126 — Jake Brown (COU) pinned Ryan Lombardo, 2:40; 132 — Josh Brown (COU) pinned Preston Oleski, 0:31; 138 — Tony Demark (PA) dec. Joe Pahler, 2-0; 145 — Frank Castano (COU) won by forfeit; 152 — Josh McGilvary (PA) pinned Tanner Smith, 5:31; 160 — Taylor Chronowski (COU) won by forfeit; 170 — Jake Cole (COU) won by foreit; 182 — Dave Virgo (COU) won by forfeit; 195 — Chris Malys (COU) won by forfeit; 220 — Nick Lynch (PA) won by forfeit; 285 — Correy Harrison (COU) won by forfeit.
Note: Match started at 138 pounds