Rodriguez Gets Back With Win
by Greg Brice, The Washington Post
Three weeks after wrestling while ineligible and forcing his team to
forfeit its first five victories, Seneca Valley's Tony Rodriguez made a
triumphant return to the mat yesterday, beating the Washington area's
top-ranked 130-pounder and leading the Screamin' Eagles past Walter
Johnson, 36-30, in Bethesda.
"This win wasn't for me, it was for my coaches and teammates," said
Rodriguez, who was cleared Thursday to wrestle in this tri-meet, held
at Walter Johnson."I let them down [when I was declared ineligible] and
I wanted to make it up to them tonight."
Rogriguez was Maryland's top-ranked wrestler in December. But after
missing too many classes, he was issued a loss of credit by one of his
teachers and declared ineligible. The Seneca Valley coaches said they did
not know Rodriguez was ineligible until after he had wrestled in the first
five matches.
After appealing to the teacher and making up for the lost time by doing
extra schoolwork, Rodriguez was cleared to wrestle by school officials.
"I'm very proud of Tony for sticking it out," said Seneca Valley Coach
Fred Kim, whose team is 2-1 since the forfeits. "He could have quit, he
could have fallen through the cracks, but he didn't. He was patient, he did
what he needed to do and he came back and wrestled a great match."
Despite missing three weeks of practice--Maryland Public Secondary Schools
Athletic Association rules prohibit ineligible athletes to practice with
the team--Rodriguez was dominant last night. In addition to pinning his
Frederick opponent during the tri-meet in less than a minute, Rodriguez
handed Walter Johnson senior Chris Gahl--20-0 and the Washington area's
top-ranked 130-pounder coming into the match--his first loss of the season,
10-3
"I wasn't looking forward to wrestling [Gahl] at all. I thought I was going
to wrestle somebody else," Rodriguez said. "I was surprised the score
was 10-3. I never thought it would be that high. I guess I just wanted
to win pretty bad."
NOTE: In the other matches in the tri-meet, Seneca Valley fell to
Frederick, 43-30, and Walter Johnson defeated Frederick, 32-36.
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