Sports
Green and White Rally in Round Two
By: Abbey Carnivale
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Several ‘Cats used the fresh memory of a loss earlier that morning to gain momentum. One in particular is RS senior Sparty Chino, who is one of very few athletes to wrestle three matches and still be in the tournament.
Starting in the pigtails round, Chino came out with a close 2-1, but the impact was made in his following match. Just 28 seconds in, Chino defeated Army’s Russell Parsons by pinfall and gaining confidence.
On the same mat just two matches later was Andrew Romanchik, looking to get a rhythm back after losing earlier Thursday morning. He squared off against Dane Pestano in a close match that was decided in the final seconds. Romanchik earned a late takedown and escape, and was able to fight off a late fight from Pestano to send him home and continue wrestling in round three.
Redshirt senior Phil Wellington was able to win out of the pigtail rounds in the wrestlebacks, but fell short following that. Wellington gave up two takedowns and an escape against Cleveland State’s Sam Wheeler that resulted in the 5-1 bobcat loss. This was the final match for Wellington as a member of the Green and White.
Walters is currently the only bobcat still undefeated after the first day of competition, beating his second opponent 3-2 after a late takedown. He only has three more wins between him and a national championship, with only one other athlete ranked ahead of him still in the winners bracket.
Freshman Shakur Laney saw his first collegiate season come to an end after going two and out, as well as Austin Reese. Reese’s performance should be commended after losing by only one point in each low-scoring round, at 2-0 each time.
Competition will continue tomorrow at 12:00 pm, with Chino, Romanchik, Kelly and Walters continuing to fight for the all-american title.
Check out the first round recap right here.