“If you have to wrestle Brandon you might as well get it out of the way,” said Riverview wrestling Coach William Sargable following a meet against the Eagles.
That being said, the young Riverview team was ready to host its firs 2008-09 season six-way tournament in November, producing some impressive results.
Just before the weigh-in, Riverview Head Coach William Sargable commented on the fact that the program continues to work on building the numbers but spoke highly of the effort turned in by each athlete, and the numbers spoke for themselves.
Individually there were some impressive performances with Ryan Hight (5 pins), Herman Hernandez (4 pins), Lemarkus Dennis (3 pins), Ryan Gascon (3 pins) and Rafael Rivera (3 pins) who finished with 5-0 for the day.
Steven Akel and Taylor Akins went 4 and 1 with 3 pins each. Jeffery Hagin, Eric Nava, Ryan Pulaski, Josh Dossantos and Jacob Scott went 3 and 2. Aaron Kee and Lance Gabbert both went 2 and 3.
Team results included RvHS 64 – Armwood 18, RvHS 72 – Blake 6, RvHS 76- Freedom 6 and RvHS 60- Middleton 20. The Bloomingdale defeated the Riverview 54-24.
The event was an opportunity for a number of wrestlers to show what they are made of for first time, but the Sargable was pleased.
“It was the debut matches for several guys… they wrestled well. The JV team went 5 and 0 on the day. Awesome Job,” he said.
For some of the veterans like Ryan Hight, who, according to Sargable, blew through his opponents like a hot knife in butter, it was just practice.
Hernandez— Hight’s wrestling buddy—this portion of the season is just the preparation for the championship.
“For me, the next three months are just to get ready for states,” Hernandez said.
Sargable summed up the day by saying that the Riverview wrestling program’s inexperience was exposed, however, it was still a productive day.
“We still have lots of work to do, starting with not giving up pins. Nonetheless, it has been a great start to the season.”
For more information about the Riverview high School wrestling program, please visit www.eteamz.com/riverviewwrestling.