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Columbia Blue-White
Timothy Williamson
Columbia Sports Information
Close, competitive matches were commonplace as the Columbia Wrestling team opened the 2007-08 season with its annual Blue-White Match before hundreds of fans and alumni at University Gym.
There were seven matches in all, as the Blue team emerged with six victories for an 18-3 win.
While Columbia wrestlers still had to face teammates, this was the first time this season that the team saw a referee, and a crowd cheering behind them, creating a competitive atmosphere.
All seven matches were decided by six points or less, including a triple-overtime thriller between senior Anthony Constantino and Matt Dunn.
In that bout, Constantino earned a 2-1 victory, as the only points scored were by escapes. Constantino's win was also the only victory for the White team.
After a scoreless first period, Dunn started on the bottom to start the second and quickly escaped to take a 1-0 lead. Constantino tied the score with a similar escape in the third period. Neither wrestler could score a move in the first or second extra sessions. Finally, Constantino was on the bottom position in the third overtime, and again escaped to earn the win.
"Dunn and Constantino are always competitive when they face each other," said Andrew F. Barth Head Coach of Wrestling, Brendan Buckley.
"They had a very close wrestle-off last year, and make each other better when they wrestle. Matt made the NCAAs last year, and Anthony made nationals in 2006, so they are both great to have on our team."
The evening opened with a match between seniors Brandon Kinney and Jerome Greco. Greco scored the first point of the match on an escape, but Kinney earned two points on a takedown in the second period. Each wrestler scored escapes later in the match, as Kinney held on for a
3-2 victory.
Veteran Sal Tirico defeated first-year Nick Standish, 9-3, in the match two, as Tirico earned three takedowns, and a reversal. Tirico also amassed exactly three minutes in riding time in the win.
In another close bout, Andy Geving earned a takedown against Mike Wolfer in the first period, and held on for a 3-1 victory. Geving missed having another point, as he only had 59 seconds of riding time.
Junior Kenji Porter fell behind, 5-0, against Ray Resnick, after Resnick scored a takedown and the evening's only near fall. Porter had two takedowns and an escape to pull within 6-5. Resnick, a senior, took Porter down again in the third period and won the bout, 9-6.
In other matches, Derek Sickles earned a 9-4 decision over Joe Kushnerick and Nick Sommerfeld beat Mike Bossetta, 8-3.
"Sommerfeld looked really good tonight," Buckley said. "He used great technique and was more aggressive. He set a good example of the physical style of wrestling we are trying to teach at Columbia."
Several alumni served as honorary coaches at the Blue-White event, as Dave Barry '87 and Matt Palmer coached the Blue team and Mike Barry
'89 and Ricky Turk '07 coached on the White squad.
The Lions open the regular season on November 17 at the East Stroudsburg Open, and then travel to Mat Town USA for a tournament in Lock Haven, Pa. on November 24.
The results:
Columbia Blue Team 18, Columbia White Team 3
Match 1 - Brandon Kinney (Blue) dec. Jerome Greco, 3-2 Match 2 - Sal Tirico (Blue) dec. Nick Standish, 9-3 Match 3 - Anthony Constantino (White) dec. Matt Dunn, 2-1 sv (3 OT) Match 4 - Derek Sickles (Blue) dec. Joe Kushnerick, 9-4 Match 5 - Andy Geving (Blue) dec. Mike Wolfer, 3-1 Match 6 - Ray Resnick (Blue) dec. Kenji Porter, 9-6 Match 7 - Nick Sommerfeld (Blue) dec. Mike Bossetta, 8-3 Saturday, November 3, 2007, University Gym, New York, N.Y.
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