By By Tim Robertson
For both Harvard and Columbia, forfeits and pins proved to be their poison against the 20th ranked Pride. Administering the lethal shot against both teams was Pride senior Mike Patrovich, as he earned two pins, one against each foe, that put the match out of reach and secured a two-win night for the Pride (2-1-1) on Sunday.
The Pride’s first opponent, the Harvard Crimson, started off on the wrong foot and the Pride dominated most of the match. The Crimson forfeited the match at 125 pounds, giving Dave Tomasette the win and an early 6-0 advantage for the Pride.
The Crimson was able to earn a pin at 133 pounds, as Robbie Preston, ninth ranked, pinned Robbie Deibert just 2:40 into the match. Deibert could not get any momentum during the match as he suffered a take down in only 23 seconds. The Crimson’s only other points were earned in the heavyweight division as eighth-ranked Bode Ogunwole pinned Jon Andriac in 3:44 in what was a very physical match for the start.
Other than those two matches, the Pride dominated the Crimson. Charlie Griffin started this trend at 141 pounds, when he earned a technical fall against Tom Picarsic to move to 11-2 on the season.
The next three matches were closer than the previous. John Manarte defeated Bobby Latessa to earn the Pride three points. James Strouse, 19th in the land, disposed of Andrew Flanagan in a 3-2 win.
Chris Vondruska also had a tough match against Mike Baria at 165 pounds. A technical violation called late in the match on Harvard seemed to be the difference, as Vondruska won a match stopped four times for blood.
After these three close matches, the captain came to the center of the mat and showed why he is the team’s most dominant wrestler. Mike Patrovich squared off against Crimson freshman Wes Walker at 174 pounds and took many early risks that did not mount to anything.
“He [Walker] wrestled tough. It is a lot of pressure going out there in front of the crowd. He did well,” Patrovich said.
With 40 seconds left, experience and patience seemed to be the difference, as Patrovich forced the Crimson out of reach with a match-securing pin.
“We needed somebody to step up, and everybody needs to be that guy. That was basically my mentality,” he said.
Once again, sophomore Joe Rovelli wrestled well and earned points for the Pride. Rovelli shut out his Crimson opponent Jon Butler, 9-0, for a major decision.
It was the same storyline and same result against Columbia, although there was much more excitement this time around.
The Pride earned two pins, suffered a pin at 133 pounds and a decision at 184 pounds, and a forfeit in the heavyweight division to end the night with a crushing 36-9 win over its New York rival.
Deibert ran into trouble against Columbia’s Brandon Kinney at 133 pounds, as he was taken down with less than 20 seconds remaining, ending the first three minutes down 4-1. Deibert tried to hang in the match, but after 4:57, Kinney pinned Deibert to give Columbia its first, and only, lead of the match.
“He really should be at 125, but he is a team player,” assistant coach Donny Pritzlaff said.
Griffin anchoroed his team and worked hard for an immediate takedown and near fall, followed by another near fall against Columbia’s Steve Sutton, who failed to get position. Griffin earned the pin and his second win of the night at 3:42 to improve his record to 12-2.
In the match of the night, Mike Patrovich pinned yet another victim in a very tense and dramatic fashion, waiting until the final minute to outmuscle sixth ranked Matt Palmer at 174 pounds. After the first three minutes, neither wrestler had muscled out a single point, and after five, Palmer was the only one with a mark. Palmer gave Patrovich all he could handle, but a hard takedown with 25 seconds left and a pin with just 14 seconds on the clock boosted Patrovich’s season record to 13-1.
At 184 pounds, Lucas lost his first match on a late takedown by Justin Barent to give the Lions their last points of the match.
“We threw Lucas to the wolves tonight, but we think he is special and he can handle it,” Pride coach Tom Ryan said.
Joe Rovelli put icing on the victory cake with a 17-4 major decision win at 197 pounds against Columbia’s Orrin Kleinhenz.
“They went out and got a good match in the first one and were ready for the second,” Pritzlaff said.
Mike Patrovich (top) gave the home fans a great match, earning a takedown with 25 seconds left. (Matt Busch/ The Chronicle)