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NEWSPAPER ARTICLES Seniors lead Ford II wrestling team to win over Anchor Bay

The responsibilities of a senior wrestling captain are numerous, ranging from leading by example to sacrificing himself for the sake of the team.

Thursday night, Ford II coach Gary Fettig knew he had to carefully shuffle his hand of wrestlers to beat visiting Anchor Bay.

Cautiously examining several scenarios, Fettig decided to move two of his senior captains- Scott Scalici and Aaron Howe- to higher weight divisions, hoping they could still beat their respective opponents for valuable team points.

Both wrestlers showed their leadership, coming through with wins and helping the Falcons to a 37-32 MAC White Division win over the Tars.

"It was a total team effort," Fettig said. "We wrestled 13 guys tonight and the key thing is we stuck it out. I definitely came up with an ace in the hole."

Scalici, who normally wrestles at 152 pounds, moved to the 160-pound division.

In his match against the Tars' John Mason, Scalici suffered an injury to the head midway through the match. But, he controlled his wits and battled to a victorious 6-4 decision to give Ford a 28-20 lead.

"If he doesn't finish the match, it's a nine-point swing- losing the three points he won and giving Anchor Bay 6 \ for the disqualification. He's a team leader, a senior and a captain. I expect that (toughness) out of Scott."

Ford's Andy Masakowski, who Fettig said he was considering moving to 189 but decided not to, pinned Justin Steiner in 1:17 at 171 to give the Falcons a comfortable 34-20 lead heading into Howe's match at 189.

Howe is normally the Falcons' grappler at 16o, but Fettig said he felt Howe could still control his match at 189, knowing a win would seal the dual-meet victory.

Howe didn't quiver, defeating Anchor Bay's Jeremy Lee by a 10-6 decision.

"Aaron Howe definitely closed (the match) off." Fettig said. "He's normally a 160-pounder who went up to 189. That's what you have a senior captain for."

Fettig said the match went almost according to plan, adding he figured his grapplers in the lighter weights would struggle against the solid Anchor Bay wrestlers there. He voided the opening match at 103 and lost matches at 112 and 119 to trail 14-0 early.

"After we got done with (Anchor Bay's Craig) Trombly (at 119), I didn't think we'd lose another match until we hit 189," Fettig said. "I thought we had that match with Dave (Moylan, who lost by pin at 130 to the Tars' Chris Parsons)."

Anchor Bay coach Jim Morisette said he knew the dual meet would be close and credited Fettig for making the correct moves.

"We knew it would be tough going in," Morisette said. "We had a couple of kids out and have been sick. But, we knew it would be a dogfight.

"I hate to admit it, but (Fettig) got me tonight. Hindsight is always 20-20. At 125, I should have wrestled (Chris) Parsons, but then I would have had to void 145."

Also winning matches for Ford were Matt Moylan (by 15-3 decision at 125), Nick Miles (pin at 2:58 at 135), Dennis Hunko (5-0 decision at 140), Adam Miles (pin at 1:56 at 145) and Matt Walter (pin at 5:45 at 152).

Fettig said the win was a total team effort, singling out the win by Miles at 145.

"We've had a hard time getting Adam in the lineup because we are stacked in the middle weights," Fettig said. "He didn't know until we were done at 140 if he was going to wrestle or not. Without that win, the whole score changes."

The win sets up a showdown for first place in the MAC White Division this Tuesday at Center Line, which enters the dual meet undefeated while Ford has one league loss.