Braves crush Spirit, Buena, Millville, EHT
The Braves stretched their season record to 11-6 last week after waxing four old, local rivals in a flurry of takedowns, nearfalls and pins.
During an eight-day span that began on January 19 the Braves blew out Buena 49-21, Holy Spirit 45-23, Millville 42-27 and EHT 42-28.
Last Thursday’s EHT match, in particular, showed off the Braves’ lineup. Longtime Braves wrestler Bhavya Rama, who never seems to stop working to improve, kicked off the evening for Gami at 132 pounds. Rama hit a single-leg takedown halfway through the first period and kept the points coming. He was up 10-3 when he decked Xavier Meneses-Fedeli with 38 seconds left in the bout. Rama, who has ten wins, is having the best year of his Absegami career.
Absegami’s Frank Gargione is the D’Arcy, Johnson, Day Wrestler of the Night for his thrilling 6-5 win over EHT veteran Vincent Faldetta. Faldetta and his brother Nicholas have been fixtures in the Eagles’ lineup for years. Gargione scored an early takedown and added an escape and a takedown in the second period to go up 5-0. Faldetta rallied in the third period but trailed by a Gargione escape at the buzzer.
Julian Rivera, Sean Cowan, Ray Weed, George Rhodes, Adrian Martinez-Ruiz and Aiden Torres all won their matches for the Braves.
This local run began back on the 19th of January when the Braves roughed up old nemesis Buena by nearly dropping a half-hundred on the Chiefs. The 49-21 win was sparked by pins by Aiden Torres, Sean Cowan and Nadhim Drinkard. Julian Rivera and George Rhodes added technical falls. Nick and Frank Gargione each won via decision, as did Bhavya Rama.
Two days later at the Jack Welch Duals the Braves whipped Holy Spirit 45-23. Sean Cowan was the Absecon Lawn Care Wreslter of the NIght via his 85-second fall over Colton Calhoun. Frank Gargione, George Rhodes, and Nadhim Drinkard also won by pin. Bhavya Rama doubled up Spirit’s Talon Fischer 10-5 at 138.
Five days later on the 26th the Thunderbolts of Millville were next on the victim list. Gami rolled over Millville 42-27. Freshman 106er Nick Gargione was the Pitney Italian Market Wrestler of the Night on the basis of his pin of Caleb Rhoads right at the buzzer ending the first period. Bhavya Rama and Brayden Wright each won by decision and Julian Rivera threw in another pin for Gami.
The EHT match played out in front of a nice crowd that was also there to watch the EHT and Galloway youth wrestling teams square off on a mat adjacent to the varsity mat, a big thrill for the Mustangs. Mustang wrestlers Colt Roesch, Owen Torres and Kyle Scannell led Galloway with impressive wins.
Tomorrow night, February 1 brings a big Cape-Atlantic League showdown to Absegami as the Caper Tigers of Lower Cape May meet the Braves. This, along with the upcoming Oakcrest meet, should be a season highlight.