NORTON SHORES - Reeths-Puffer junior wrestler Owen Schab said he wasn’t worried at any point in his 144-pound match against Mona Shores’ Erik Davidson on Wednesday.
That’s pretty remarkable, because Schab trailed Davidson 10-0 after the first two-minute period and 14-2 early in the second period. One more two-point move by Davidson would have ended the match early and given Mona Shores four crucial points on the scoreboard.
But Schab kept battling despite the score, finally saw his opportunity and turned the tables, pinning Davidson with 1:32 left in the third period.
His amazing comeback proved to be the turning point for the Rockets, who only led the Sailors by four points before Schab’s pin, then went on to win six of the last seven matches to post a convincing 54-20 victory over Mona Shores in an important O-K Green conference dual match.
R-P's Owen Schab (top), who managed to get a pin after falling far behind in his match. Photo/Jeremy Clark
“Honestly, no,” Schab said, when asked if he was concerned about being so far behind. “Coach told me before the match to just get him into the second or third period because they can’t keep up with our conditioning. Plus I’ve had a lot of wins in the third period and I knew I could come back.
“When I got him on his back and I heard the crowd screaming it was pretty exciting.”
R-P head coach Jared Fleming said he wasn’t surprised by Schab’s determination to rally and win, because that’s the kind of wrestler he is.
“He didn’t wrestle well in the first two periods, but I knew he had the mentality for it,” the coach said. “He’s like the toughest kid we have on our team when it comes to getting off his back and fighting, fighting, fighting. He got him in a reversal, caught him in a headlock and got the fall. I’m really proud of that kid.”
Reeths-Puffer's Caleb Zimmerman (top), who won a tough match 10-6. Photo/Jeremy Clark
The victory was important for Reeths-Puffer for several reasons.
The obvious one is that Reeths-Puffer and Mona Shores are fierce rivals in all varsity sports, including wrestling. The Rockets – and their coaches – are happy and excited any time they can beat the Sailors.
“We don’t like them very much,” Fleming said with a smile. “It’s just the rivalry. We have a lot of football players on the team, too, so that’s there.”
The bigger reason is that R-P has high hopes of contending for the O-K Green conference championship after finishing second behind Holland last season.
Reeths-Puffer Matt McConnell (top), who pinned his opponent in the second period. Photo/Jeremy Clark
Wednesday’s victory gave the Rockets a 2-1 conference record, and they only have seven conference dual matches, so one more loss could be very costly in the league standings.
“We’re hoping we can win out and have a shot to win the title at the conference tournament at the end of the year,” said Fleming, whose team is now 13-11 overall. “I think our guys can pull it out.”
The match started out very back-and-forth, with Mona Shores winning the 106-pound match, R-P’s Jake Rozycki pinning Mona Shores’ Alden Siuda-Cortez in 3:06 in the 113-pound match, Mona Shores winning by forfeit at 120, and R-P’s Ian Cook pinning Mona Shores’ Gavin Claycomb in 44 seconds at 126.
Mona Shores won the 132-pound match, then Reeths-Puffer standout Kaden Malotke won by forfeit at 138 pounds.
R-P's Nathan Stafford, who pinned his opponent in less than a minute. Photo/Jeremy Clark
Reeths-Puffer led by a tight 18-14 margin at that point.
Schab followed with his amazing comeback victory at 144 pounds, then the Rockets took over the evening.
R-P’s Nathan Reeves pinned Drew Duff in the first period at 150 pounds, Ommillion Wyrick beat Jaxon Finklea 8-5 at 175, Caleb Zimmerman downed Peyton Peterson 10-6 at 190, Matt McConnell pinned Daylon Vorgias in the second period at 215, and Nathan Stafford pinned Erik Gould in less than a minute.
Add in a forfeit victory by Sage Secrest at 165 and the Rockets had their final margin of victory.
R-P's Andrew Corradin tries to get out from under his opponent. Photo/Jeremy Clark
Several of the Rockets’ victories came by just a few points in full matches, and several of their pins came in the second or third periods.
Fleming says he tells his wrestlers to hang in there, no matter how their match is going, because the longer they go, the more they will have the advantage.
“We’ve been telling these guys for a while, take your opponents to deep water and see if they can swim,” the coach said. “We’re used to that, because we train to get to the third period.”
The Rockets went on to have a perfect night, beating Spring Lake in a non-conference match 42-35 following the victory over Mona Shores.
Malotke, Secrest, Wyrick and Caden Huddleston had key victories in the win over the Lakers.
