Blair Grapplers Win Wilson Invitational Tournament… Team Heads to Most Prestigious Tournament in U.S.A. — The Ironman

The 2007-2008 wrestling season kicked off with a bang for the Blair Bucs, the #1-ranked team in the country. In just its first official competition Blair finished in first and third place in a 13-team field at the 2007 Wilson Invitational Tournament. That’s correct…first and third place. You see, Blair took two lineups: it’s #1 and #2.

2007 Wilson Invitational champions include: Evan Silver at 103 lbs.; Sean Boyle at 112 lbs.; Tony Buxton at 119 lbs.; Chris Villalonga at 125 lbs.; Garrett Frey at 135 lbs.; C.J. Cobb at 140 lbs.; Mario Mason at 145 lbs.; Carter Lorant at 152 lbs.; Corey Peltier at 171 lbs.; and Ben Krakower at 189 lbs.

2007 place finishers: Matt Tadich placed 3rd at 112 lbs.; Joe Stanzione (119 lbs.) and Anthony Valles (125 lbs.) each took home silver medals; Austin Ormsbee placed third at 135 lbs.; John Guzzo was second at 140 lbs.; Jesse Shanaman finished in third place at 152 lbs.; Brad Bishop was fourth at 160 lbs.; at 215 lbs. Steve Hanzlik placed second, Anthony Lajara sixth; and Kyle Hansen brought home the silver at 275 lbs.

“We had a great weekend as we really needed to compete. Our kids were very excited about going to the tournament. In fact, some of the best matches were between our own kids. We go to the Ironman in Akron, Ohio this weekend (December 8-9), and unfortunately we are only allowed to bring one team. I am confident about our team this year. We are working hard and doing the right things,” said Jeff Buxton, Blair Head Coach.

The 2007 Walsh Ironman features a strong field of teams: #1 Blair will be tested by numerous nationally-ranked teams including #2 St. Paris Graham (Ohio); #6 St. Edward (Ohio); #7 Montini Catholic (Illinois); #13 Christiansburg, Virginia; #14 Caesar Rodney, Delaware; #15 Bishop Lynch (Texas), to name just a few top-ranked teams.

“We are excited to see breakout performances from the younger kids. We have three freshmen in Ormsbee (135 lbs.), Guzzo (140 lbs.), and Silver (103 lbs.) and they need to step up for us. We will see the best in the nation so we have to wrestle well to win. It is a great event to see exactly how well we are doing. It’s a quality tournament and well run too,” said Jeff Buxton.

To follow the 2007 running of the Walsh Ironman Tournament you can log onto www.walshironman.com or www.flocasts.org/flowrestling.

Please direct all questions and comments to buxtoj@blair.edu.