Riverside Pins Down Nea Title Seniors Show The Way As Rams Defeat Gritty Deer Park 37-26

Ninth-ranked Riverside needed some leadership from its eight seniors if it hoped to discard its Rodney Dangerfield reputation and claim the Northeast A wrestling championship.

The Rams (6-0-1) got some big matches from their seniors and some unexpected help from their younger competitors as well Monday night on their way to a 37-26 victory over Deer Park (5-2) at Riverside to claim the NEA crown.

“We have never been in the paper and haven’t gotten a lot of respect,” an elated Rams’ coach Randy Miller said. “We now have a chance at districts to show everyone that we deserve the press. We just knocked off the No. 2 team (in the NEA).

“I set this as a goal (winning the NEA) the first day of practice, but it has taken us a while to get here. We have just gotten better and better since Christmas break. There is just no way for me to predict how they will wrestle anymore because each time they get better and better.”

Henry Perterson scored a major decision in the second-to-last match and Adrian Bojorques delivered a crucial third-round pin to provide the difference for the Rams.

“A lot of them wrestled above what I expected,” Miller said. “They really rose to the occasion.”

One of them was Bojorques.

Just a freshman, the wiry 108-pounder wore down Nathan Leibrant, outlasting him for a pin with 1:23 remaining in the match.

“The younger kids really stood in there and wrestled to the best of their ability,” coach Miller said. “Nobody let down.”

On Senior Night, it was only fitting that Perterson trot onto the mat with the match still very much in doubt and only one match remaining after his.

Perterson, a two-time state-finalist and defending state champion, outlasted an inspired Don Forbes at 115 pounds, 20-7, in a match much closer than the score.

The spunky Rams senior jumped on Forbes quickly, scoring the first five points and appearing on the verge of pinning his opponent. However, Forbes was able to escape momentarily from Perterson’s grasp only to be secured again.

And so it went, back and forth, before Perterson was able to put Forbes away.

The team match went much the same way for the Rams.

After senior Mike Lane kicked things off by dropping a tight match at 129 to Clint Umbach, a veteran state performer for the Stags, the Rams stormed back with back-toback pins by seniors Matt Turner and Joe Downing.

Deer Park answered by sandwich ing an 8-0 win by Heath Berger at 148 and a pin by Alex Schulz just 53 seconds into his match at 178 around pins by Riverside’s Dan Kruger (158) and Matt Morin (168) to keep the Stags close.

It was 24-13 when Rams’ senior Gary Olp responded by winning the closest match of the night, and maybe provided the momentumshifter as well, an 11-10 decision over John Miller. time expired.

“The team is well conditioned and that’s what won Olp’s match,” coach Miller said. “It has won us a lot of matches and will win us a lot more.”

Riverside 37, Deer Park 26

129-Umbach (DP) d. Lane 10-6. 135-Turner (R) p. Race 2:12. 141-Downing (R) p. J. Berger :59. 148-H. Berger md. Kulberg 8-0. 158-Kruger (R) p. J. Garner 2:49. 168-Morin (R) p. Garner 1:00. 178-Schulz (DP) p. Sadberry :53. 190-Olp d. Miller 11-10. HVYWilliams (DP) p. Hanson 1:22. 101- Race (DP) d. Ross 7-4. 108-Bojorques (R) p. Leibrant 4:37. 115-Perterson (R) md. Forbes 20-7. 122-Bryant (DP) d. Gable 16-2.