Villalonga Leads Bucs to a Second Place Finish at 2007 Walsh Ironman Tournament

BUCS HEAD TO DELAWARE THIS WEEKEND (DECEMBER 15-16) TO COMPETE IN BEAST OF THE EAST BATTLE

Chris Villalonga was the lone champion for the Blair Bucs when they made their annual trek to Akron, Ohio to compete in the Walsh Ironman Tournament. It wasn’t easy for the 125 lbs. sophomore as he just squeaked by Dan Genetin of Massillon Perry, Ohio 1-0 in the semifinals. He did get his sea legs in the finals and sailed to a 7-3 decision over Cody Kelly of Reynolds, Pennsylvania.

“Chris wrestled tough and really opened up in the finals. He showed poise and this will move him up in the national rankings,” said Jeff Buxton, Blair Head Coach. For a lot of guys this competition was new to them. In particular, it was exciting to see our three freshmen perform well.”

(The three freshmen are Silver at 103 lbs., Ormsbee at 135 lbs., and Guzzo at 140 lbs.)

As mentioned, Evan Silver looked tough at 103 lbs. and wrestled back to a 5th place finish, winning six matches in the wrestle-backs. Sean Boyle, a junior, dropped a close match-5-4 to Mason Beckman of Reynolds, Penn at 112 lbs. Boyle then stormed back through the wrestle-backs and won six in a row to capture third place, where he knocked off Steve Mitchell of Elyria (Ohio) 6-1. At 130 lbs. Anthony Valles lost a close semi-final bout but bounced back nicely with a 3-1 win over Andrew Grabfel of Germantown (Pennsylvania) for the bronze medal. Freshman Austin Ormsbee finished in fifth place at 135 lbs. and showed coaches why he will be a force in the middle. John Guzzo topped off a nice weekend by pinning Louis Johnson of Great Bridge (Virginia) for third place at 140 lbs.

“A pleasant surprise came in Steve Hanzlik’s performance at 215 lbs. Steve knocked off the #4 and #5 seeds and finished in fifth place. Sean Boyle also wrestled tough at 112 lbs. and is improving every day. Mario (Mason) entered the tournament a little gimpy and lost in the semi-finals to John Burns of North Carolina. In fact, Mario tweaked his other ankle in that match so we’ll sit him for now,” Buxton said.

Mario Mason the #1-ranked wrestler in America wrestled well in spite of the fact he was nursing a bad wheel and placed 4th at 145 lbs. Maryland bound Cory Peltier lost a close 4-2 battle to Zac Thomussei of St. Paris Graham at 171 lbs. in the bronze medal bout. Hanzlik made it all the way to the semi-finals and scored important team points for the Bucs with a fifth place finish. Tony Buxton (119 lbs.), Kyle Hansen (HWT), Jesse Shanaman (152 lbs.), Adam Hogue (160 lbs.), Ben Krakower (189 lbs.), all wrestled well and look forward to bringing home medals from this weekend’s Beast of the East Tournament.

Final team scores for the 2007 Ironman are as follows: St. Paris Graham (Ohio) 250 pts., Blair Academy 208, St. Edward (Ohio) 158, Colonial Forge (Virginia) 122.

“The Ironman is a great barometer for us. Now I know what our kids need to work on and we are doing that. We are getting better ever day in the practice room and we will be ready come this weekend’s Beast of the East tournament in Delaware,” said Jeff Buxton.

To follow the Beast of the East you can log onto www.beastwrestling.com.

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