Braves launch comeback to beat Lower Cape May
About a half hour before his Absegami Braves took on the ranked Tigers of Lower Cape May someone asked Braves head wrestling coach Shawn Scannell how Gami would fare. “We’ll win, he said, “We match up good with them. We’ll win, but it will be tight.”
You don’t say.
Scannell’s men in brown nipped the Caper Tigers 34-33 in a wild one before a decent crowd at Absegami. Sean Cowan, the Sports Clips Wrestler of the Night, sewed it up for Gami when he defeated Jadan Farrow 8-4 in a physical bout at 157. Cowan’s win, with just one bout remaining, gave the Braves an insurmountable seven-point lead at 34-27. Absegami forfeited the last match of the evening, at 165, and celebrated a big Cape-Atlantic League win.
The Braves trailed 21-6 after an Absegami forfeit at 113. After George Rhodes led off with a physical 5-2 win over LCM’s Braydon Castillo the Tigers had their way with the Braves but they couldn’t get on a roll. The whole evening LCM never won more than two matches in a row. Twice early on LCM threatened to go on the kind of four-match winning streaks that can cement early leads. Two Braves, first heavyweight Adrain Martinez-Ruiz and then 120-pounder Matthew Sterling, refused to let Lower create any lasting momentum. Martinez-Ruiz won in the sudden victory round of overtime, 2-1. Sterling grabbed a late first-period pin that woke up the crowd and the portion of the scoreboard under the title BRAVES.
Lower won the next bout at 126 when Absegami got a little careless with a 5-2 third-period lead but the Tigers didn’t win a bout the rest of the night. Gami went on a 22-0 run that ended with Cowan’s win. Three of the four straight wins saw the Braves ring up bonus points. Aidan Zeck grabbed a major decision at 132. Frank Gargione and Brayden Wright both earned first -period pins. Julian Rivera wrestled hard in a 7-6 win at 150 and it was time for Cowan to do his thing.
Twenty-four hours later, as if that wasn’t enough excitement, the Braves hosted ancient rival Oakcrest. Gami blew out the Falcons 48-30 after building a 36-0 lead and cruising to a win that boosted their record to 13-6.
Julian Rivera, Sean Cowan, Nadhim Drinkard and Matthew Sterling all nailed down pins for the Braves. The Gargione brothers, Nick and Frank, both earned one-sided decisions.
The Braves will be in action Monday night at Delsea in the South Jersey Group III Quarterfinals versus Mainland. The winner will face Delsea in the semifinals.
Prior to that the Braves will be hosting their annual Beef ‘N Beer fundraiser at Fred & Ethel’s Tavern in Smithville on Saturday night.