There are some bouts between high profile wrestlers that you expect to be good ones, but they turn out to be cautious snorefests that end up with very few points being scored.
There were only two points scored in the 125-pound championship bout between Tyrone's Ronnie Garbinsky and Penn Cambria's Pat Myers, but it was filled with action, emotions and just tough wrestling.
The tone was set early in Garbinsky's 2-0 win that the combatants wouldn't be just standing around waiting for something to happen. The first-period flurry in which both wrestlers had chances at takedowns was wild and breathtaking.
The crowd's appreciative applause to that action reminded me of the 2006 finals bout between Cambria Heights' Glenn Winslow and Tyrone's Robert Waite. Their third-period flurry was amazing and drew the same kind of crowd reaction. Waite would go on to win, 9-7, in overtime after coming out of another flurry with a takedown.
The last time Garbinsky and Myers wrestled, Garbinsky earned a 7-5 two-tiebreaker win in the 125-pound finals of the Thomas Automotive Family Tournament. His late desperation takedown gave him the lead, but a caution point tied the score and sent it into overtime.
On Saturday, the bout was scoreless until the third period, when he reversed. It looked like Myers was going to break free the hard riding Tyrone sophomore, but both times Garbinsky stayed in control.
After the last time Myers nearly got out, the PC junior had to take an injury timeout. As Myers was being attended to on the mat, Garbinsky was flexing his hand and shaking it after being in the same position for what seemed like forever.
Something tells me those two will be awing people again.
Brett out
Bedford's P.J. Brett, who missed most of last season with an elbow injury, will miss the postseason with an injury to the same elbow.
Brett reinjured the elbow in early January and has been bugged by it since. Wearing a brace at PIAA Team Championships, he had to take at least one timeout every bout as he felt the pain.
Brett was 19-7, so the Bisons' lineup for the District 5 Tournament this weekend and at the Southwest Regional won't be as strong as it has been.
Caslow recognized
It's fitting that former Philipsburg-Osceola coach Dave Caslow has been named District 6 Man of the Year by the district coaches.
Caslow was recognized at the District 6 Class AA Tournament Saturday before the championship finals. He'll be honored again before Saturday night's Class AAA finals.
A member of the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the District 6 Hall of Fame, Caslow amassed 405 wins in 37 years of coaching, including 378 in 34 years at P-O.
Now, he's the District 6 representative for the PWCA, and he's involved with the National Wrestling Coaches Association, for which he's written a coach's manual.
Caslow is also on the District 6 Hall of Fame Committee. This year, he served as West Branch's junior high coach after three years as an assistant coach.
Todd Irwin can be reached at 946-7464 or at tirwin@altoonamirror.com.
