Renck's OT victory gives Longwood the edge
Longwood's Ricky Renck controls Brentwood's Jonathon Falconi in their 145 lb. match. Renck won by decision in overtime 4-2. (January 13, 2010) Credit: Newsday/Photo by Joseph D. Sullivan
Ricky Renck was oblivious last night, but for Longwood, that was a good thing.
Content that his job was complete, the Lions' 145-pounder unbuckled his headgear and began to walk off the mat.
Not so fast.
Though he took a two-point lead in the first 30-second period of the second overtime on a reversal, he forgot that double overtime was comprised of two 30-second periods.
Renck won the match regardless, 4-2, and then strolled off the mat completely unaware that he just foiled Brentwood's match strategy.
Longwood took a three-point lead on Renck's win and never trailed again, earning a 31-17 victory over visiting Brentwood in a League I wrestling match.
After forfeiting to Nicky Hall at 135 pounds (in what would have been the second bout of the evening), Brentwood coach Ralph Napolitano bumped his next three wrestlers up a weight class in order to get what he believed was the best matchups.
"Their horses are there in the middle weights and I felt that was our only chance to win," Napolitano said of his move. "That double-overtime match kind of threw everything off."
Renck used a third-period escape to force overtime against Brentwood's Jonathon Falconi, and after neither wrestler scored in the first OT, Renck used a switch to reverse Falconi and take the lead for good.
"I thought it was over," Renck said about why he walked off the mat prematurely. "When it gets into the heart of our lineup, that's when we go to work. We let the other stuff work itself out."
Longwood coach Mike Picozzi believes Napolitano may have jumped the gun on rearranging his lineup. "They started panicking I think," he said. "At that point in the match, you don't know what is going to go down."
Brothers Corey (103 pounds) and Malik Rasheed (112), both returning All State performers, earned victories to put Longwood out of reach. Corey got three near fall points on a cradle, and a reversal in the second period to take a 7-6 lead over Eric Orellana. He chose bottom in the third and neither wrestler scored in the final period.
Napolitano was irate with the official for not whistling Corey for stalling as he clammed up on bottom, and his arguing led to a loss of one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct.
