Last week on Saturday the 18^th February the Tuscarora Titans hosted the wrestling varsity county tournament. Almost every high school in Frederick County was in attendance including Brunswick, Catoctin, Frederick, Linganore, Middletown, Oakdale, T.J., Urbana, and Walkersville. Starting at 7:30 in the morning and ending around 8:30 in the evening the finals where held in the last hour of the tournament. Wrestling in the finals for Tuscarora at weight 108 was wrestler Vinnie Catania who was headed up against Middletown’s 108 champ, Jeremy. The bout was to be the most uplifting, surprising, and spectacular match of the entire tournament.

The match between Vinnie and Jeremy started like any other with the two wrestlers squaring up on the mat in the neutral position. The first period saw Vinnie get taken down by Jeremy scoring the Middletown wrestler two points and setting the score two to zero. With the take down the Middletown wrestler was able to keep Vinnie on bottom and from scoring any kind of points to regain a neutral footing on the score board. Although, for the continuation of the round Vinnie was able to keep from being pinned or getting scored on by his formidable opponent. Throughout the rest of round one and the entirety of round two it was an extremely tough fight but no one wrestler gained any more of an advantage or points over the other. With rounds one and two having come and gone and round three starting Vinnie’s chances at winning started to look grim. His fellow Titans in the bleachers started to lose steam becoming dismayed by the current state of events.

Starting in the down position for the third round Vinnies only chance to even the score was to get out from underneath his opponent. A minute of the round went by and Vinnie still remained where he began on bottom. Another thirty seconds went by and for however much struggling he did Vinnie was still unable to get out from underneath his Middletown adversary. Another twenty seconds went by and the Titans had all but lost faith in their teammate shouting for him to keep trying to break free. Then, fortune struck, and with only ten seconds left on the clock and mustering all his strength Vinnie was able to break free of his opponents chains. With the scoreboard now reading one to two Vinnie had only five seconds to take down his opponent and get two points. Within those five seconds Vinnie did it, he took down his opponent and won his match. In a burst of excitement he jumped into the air and cheered with his coach. The entirety of the team residing in the bleachers jumped up and cheered loud enough their cries echoed around the gym. Every one of his teammates came down from the stands to give their congratulations and escort him out of the gym where they could celebrate. It was truly one of the best matches of the season and a great way to start the beginning of the end of the county tournament.