NEW YORK STATE WRESTLING: NEWARK VALLEY'S POST RIDES EARLY LEAD TO FIRST-ROUND VICTORY (2020-02-28)
BY TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
ALBANY — Newark Valley's Josh Post finally made it to the Times Union Center here and made his debut at the NYSPHSAA Division II Wrestling Championships a memorable one.
The Cardinal senior hit Maple Grove's Luke Tomlinson with a five-point move early, then battled his way to a 7-5 victory in a 132-pound first round bout.
From their feet in the first period, Post worked his way behind Tomlinson, locked him up around the midsection for the takedown, then slipped in a bar and turned him for a 5-0 advantage.
"That was a beautiful takedown," NV coach Mike Daly said. "He got it, and we always talk about kids kind of relaxing after a takedown or, I'm not saying this kid did this, but in our room we talk about feeling sorry for ourselves. When we hit the mat, time to score and get back out, and that kid kind of hit the mat disappointed that he got taken down and Josh was able to slip right into that bar. That's Josh's thing on top, kind of his specialty. The fact that that kid took a lapse for a second and Josh, being a senior, being experienced, he's been there and he buys into what we teach and he had that thing immediately."
Tomlinson scored a late escape to make it 5-1 heading into the second period.
The next two minutes were a battle fo reversals with Tomlinson scoring one at 1:12, and Post getting the points back with a reversal at 31 seconds before Tomlinson got another with 10 ticks on the clock to make it 7-5 heading into the third period.
Post chose bottom in the final period and fought off Tomlinson's repeated attempts to turn him to his back.
"It says a lot about his skills, to steal something from (Chenango Forks coach) Rick Gumble, his mat IQ," Daly said. "He's wrestled a lot, he's been on the mat a lot in his life, and when he goes on the mat it's not just to wrestle. He's focused on improvement, to being in those situations and learning from all his time on the mat and to do that, and scramble out of those, his intelligence and his experience kind of come through."
The NV standout appeared to score a defensive pin in the final 10 seconds, but there was no call made.
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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR
