By Matt Schooley
 

WEARE – John Stark Regional High School’s wrestling team fell into and climbed out of an early hole, then lost momentum and its dual meet with visiting Souhegan High School, 48-30.

Trailing 24-6, the Generals tied the score at 24-24 during the meet on Wednesday, Jan. 16, when Keith DeMoura notched the team’s third consecutive pin.

After Souhegan and John Stark exchanged six-point pins the next two matches, the score stood at 30-30 with Jon Richardson stepping on the mat.

Richardson took a 10-0 lead into the second period of the 171-pound weight class match, but trouble found him in the third. About to be pinned, Richardson escaped to a neutral position and was on the verge of salvaging three points for his team. Instead, he was pinned with .2 seconds remaining, losing his lead and the match.

Souhegan pinned the next two Generals wrestlers to seal the win.

“It was a frustrating loss,” said John Stark head coach Bill Walton. “We need to refocus on the basics, finishing pins and getting out of them. This season those close ones have always seemed to go against us.”

John Stark found itself down before anyone wrestled when sophomore Alec Kram, scheduled to make his first appearance in the heavyweight division, missed the weigh-in. As a result, Souhegan automatically earned six points without breaking a sweat.

But Stark’s Keith Morrill, Rob McCardell and DeMoura made quick work of their opponents, pinning them early in their matches.

Walton, who questioned his team’s leadership earlier in the season, has been particularly impressed with DeMoura and McCardell.

“The leadership on the team has really come a long way. Keith has really been taking the rest of the team on his shoulders, and he’s really been stepping up,” said Walton. “Rob McCardell has been doing a great job as well, and I’m really pleased with that.

“We’re really close,” said the mentor. “But the little mistakes are killing us.”

According to Walton, the Generals won’t take part in the year-end dual meet championships, focusing instead on the individual tournament while trying to improve as a team.

“We’re gaining some confidence, and we have some young guys who are starting to figure it out,” said Walton, who also said it was hard to stop the Sabres during their late-meet run.

“Momentum is so tough to stop. It’s not like basketball where you can call a time out,” he added. “We did decent in the middle (of the meet), but if we had made a pin somewhere along the line, we’ve got (momentum) back.”