Highlanders Grapplers Hanging Tough During Rebuilding Season

Sometimes, life's not fair. But no need to tell the Highlanders that.

's varsity wrestling team faced a tall task on Friday night with a non-section match against 11-1 Hampton High School.

Baldwin High, at 3-9, entered the match with 16 wrestlers on its roster, compared to 26 for Hampton, the No. 6-ranked team in the WPIAL's AAA, or largest, wrestling classification. To make matters worse, a bout of injuries and illnesses have hit the Highlanders hard recently, and that showed with forfeits by Baldwin in five weight categories.

All the variables led to a 70-9 thumping by Hampton on Friday night, buoyed by 30 forfeit points and, to the Talbots' credit, pinfalls in six weight classes, as well as a 19-6 points win in another.

The Highlanders earned two individual wins—a pinfall at 120 pounds by senior Said Hasanovic (on Senior Night) over junior Reed O'Shaughnessy and a thrilling, 7-5 points victory by sophomore D'Adrian Carter at 106 pounds over freshman Patrick Keyser.

Hasanovic was dominating, moving ahead by double digits in the third period before pinning O'Shaughnessy.

Carter had the most entertaining win of the night. Down by a point late in the third, he intentionally allowed Keyser to escape before scoring a match-tying takedown and then moving ahead on points.

"Carter wrestled a real tough match," Baldwin's Head Coach George McCormack said. "He stuck in there and pulled it off at the end."

Carter weighed in at 92 pounds despite competing in the 106-pound class.

"And Said," McCormack said, "no better way to go out as a senior than to have a kid (down), 14-0, and then you end up pinning him. So, I feel good for Said to go out that way."

Hampton was nevertheless impressive as a team—three of its pins came in first periods—while shaking off its first loss of the season on Wednesday against Butler Area High School, another high-ranked AAA squad.

Hampton has postseason aspirations on the team side, but Baldwin, which fell to 3-10 with the loss, is out of the playoffs after a fifth-place finish in its section.

While Hasanovic and Baldwin's other seniors—Mike Conway (145 pounds), Wil Ostermeyer (195) and Bobby Bush (285)—are done for their careers competing in team matches at Baldwin, the Highlanders' season is far from finished. Baldwin has three team matches left in 2011-12—all non-section: Feb. 1 at Mt. Lebanon High School, Feb. 3 at and Feb. 8 at Blackhawk High School.

The team will also send wrestlers to an individual tournament at Uniontown Area High School on Feb. 11 before it hosts the AAA Section 2 individual championships on Feb. 25, where the top five finishers in each weight class will qualify for the overall WPIAL individual championships.

"The big thing is to be healthy for sections (the individual section championships," McCormack said following the loss to Hampton.

McCormack called out Ostermeyer, Bush, sophomore Zack Bernarding and freshman DeVontae Evans as those with a good chance to earn some wins at the section championships.

As for team aspirations, those will have to wait for another season, perhaps when Baldwin's roster grows and gets healthier.

"(Baldwin's Assistant) Coach (Mike) Billbie and Coach McCormack were teammates of mine at Pitt," Hampton's Head Coach Joe Bursick said after defeating the Highlanders for his 200th career team win, "so I've known these guys for a long time.

"They do a great job. We know what they bring. They've experienced some down years, but they'll bounce back up. I know that they're doing the right thing, building in the right direction."

Friday's Results (Winners in Italics)

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