Panthers flex muscle against rival Wolves

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OSWEGO -- It didn't take long for Thursday's crosstown battle between Oswego and Oswego East to turn into a show of strength for the visiting Panthers.

Oswego muscled its way to a big early lead and won going away 48-21, earning four pins in the process.

Each team received 12 points on a pair of forfeits. When the verdict was decided on the mat, the Panthers controlled the meet.

"We're young and we made some rookie mistakes, but we're getting better," Oswego coach Greg Scott said. "I've been preaching that every match is important and we need to improve every time out. So far, we've been doing that. I brought up to the guys that this is one match we don't want to lose. It's a friendly rivalry, but it's still a rivalry."

After each team won a match by forfeit, Tyler Rathbun, at 152 pounds, got the lead for the Panthers by pinning East's John Garza with 39 seconds left in the second period.

One of the highlights for the Wolves came at 160. Tied at 2, Brendan Griffin lifted Oswego's Jon DeBono off the ground from his position on the mat for a reversal. Then he earned riding time and posted a 9-3 victory.

Oswego (4-2) won the next four matches, including at 189 by forfeit. Chaz Williams earned a pin at 6 seconds of the first period at 171. Then Dan Howell exhibited pure strength at 215 to pin Oswego East's Chris Fagan with 34 seconds left in the match. And Oswego's Todd Groth overpowered Matt Hildner at 285 for a pin with 49 seconds to go.

"We've been really harping on the guys that they need to go the full six minutes," said Oswego East coach Mike Jezioro, whose team fell to 0-2. "I don't know if we were intimidated or taken in by the moment, since we have a lot of freshmen and sophomores. We'll get it fixed up, starting with our match (tonight)."

Oswego East's Ruben Reyes, only a freshman, won a highly entertaining bout with Gino Muzzalupo at 103. Reyes broke away from a 4-4 tie to take a 9-4 lead, then held on in the third period for a 10-6 victory.

The match at 125 between East's Colin Griffin and the Panthers' Matt McFall went to overtime before McFall ended it with a takedown 1:23 into the extra session.

"We took advantage of opportunities as we have so far this year," Scott said. "If we get a chance for a fall or a reversal, we've been taking advantage of it, like Matt did in the takedown in overtime. Top to bottom, I was pretty happy with the way we wrestled."

After Oswego's Ross Reeder controlled Jose Oliva throughout with superior strength at 130 for a 7-2 win, Derek Edwards took the night's final match at 135 with a 14-6 win over Matt Wesolik.

"We were disappointed with the outcome," Jezioro said. "When a team gives you 12 points (on forfeits) and you can only score 10 more on top of it, that's not going to get it done."