Blazers knocked by Rams

JAN. 8, NELSON H. KOBREN MEMORIAL GYMNASIUM-

Although many Blair varsity wrestlers saw great improvements in their techniques, most were discouraged with their 24-57 loss today against Rockville, which made their season record 1-6.

All of the Blair wrestlers who scored points today won by pin. The scoring Blazers were senior captain Andrew Wallis (189), junior Patrick Lao (103) and freshmen Samuel Robergeau (112) and Bereket Kebede (140).

The loss today was especially disappointing because of the Blazers' assessment of the Rockville team. "They aren't as fit as we are. Once we got into the second period they were gone,” Wallis said in reference to the second-period pins that occurred in six matches, three of which the Blazers won. "They weren't as good as us, we should have won.”

Sophomore Max Lockwood (145) deemed the absence of freshman Nick Scur, who is a Seventh Day Adventist, detrimental to the team. The vacancy forced sophomore Jon Berger to move up to Scur's weight class of 135 lbs with little varsity experience.

Two of the main weaknesses that cost Blair the match were the speed and stance of the Blazers. "They tried hard but they weren't low enough and they weren't fast enough,” Robergeau said simply. Wallis agreed that careless mistakes were decisive in the outcome of the match and emphasized that the Blazers' attacks were greatly flawed in that they did not go through the proper procedure of positioning themselves and setting up and executing the move as often or as thoroughly as they should have.

As Wallis said after the match, the team is still "green” and gaining vital experience each day. Since the team's victory against Kennedy on Wednesday, it has focused on peak-out and spin-out drills. Unfortunately, the Blazers were not able to use those drills much today. They were more often faced with a situation involving a Rockville wrestler shooting in against a Blazer, who then catches and sprawls on top of him correctly but who also is without adequate knowledge of the three-quarters Nelson needed to bring him down. According to Wallis, now that the team members have solidified their top and bottom positions, they can now concentrate more fully on how each move works, such as the three-quarters Nelson.

The team next faces Blake at home on Tuesday, December 11, at 6 p.m.