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River Ridge records six pins and a forfeit to defeat a young Ridgewood team.
By JAMAL THALJI
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 14, 2000
NEW PORT RICHEY -- For Ridgewood coach Vincent Lowe, it is the most important weight class of the season:
Eight pounds, 10 ounces.
That's how much daughter Scotlyn weighed when she was born at 5:41 p.m. Monday. Mother Lisa and older sibling Tihna, 2, are both doing fine, the Rams coach reported. He should know. He has barely left his wife's side.
Which means he had to miss Wednesday night's River Ridge-Ridgewood tussle as the host Royal Knights showed the young Rams what experience is all about.
River Ridge won 48-29 to take its second-consecutive regular-season dual meet victory over Ridgewood, scoring six pins and a forfeit against a team that had to start six freshmen.
"I was excited," River Ridge coach Mike DeGennaro said. "We wrestled well, but there's still enough there for us to improve on. But we were very aggressive."
River Ridge was led with pins from Gary Pargament at 112 pounds (29 seconds), J.T. Heckler at 119 (1:26), Tommy Parente at 125 (1:38), Steve Giratanno (3:34), Kyle Engand at 160 (3:07) and Nate Way at 215 (1:47).
But the most impressive pin of the night came when two of Pasco County's top heavyweights battled: the Rams' Rudy Arce pinned the Royal Knights' Joey Mayo in 1:48.
"I would have loved to have seen that," Lowe said. "I think that's great for Rudy, and it puts an exclamation point on the season for him."
Ridgewood's Anthony Jackson (103) and Anthony DeSantis (152) also won. River Ridge's Matt Lee (171) was another winner, and teammate Mark Boice (140) and Ridgewood's Pete Weinstien (189) won by forfeit.
DeGennaro is still wary of Ridgewood, however.
"They're still a well-coached team," DeGennaro said. "They're starting out very young this year. But I'm sure Vinnie will have them ready by the end of the season, as all Ridgewood teams are."