Falcons hope to continue modest strides

BY CHARLES ROTHWELL
Dec. 2, 2009, 12:55 a.m.

  Head coach Al Beyar and assistant Nick Belsky look to continue the progress of strengthening the Falcons' wrestling team. Farmington took another modest step forward last year, moving up a couple places in the Observerland team standings and winning their team district championship. Two Falcons were regional qualifiers, but neither  moved on to the state tournament.

  Graduation losses include Rob Williams (135 pounds), Josh Gaskill (140), Kirk Tomski (145), Colin Clark (152) and Kenny Carfagno (171). Additionally, it appears that lower weight starters Kevin Jose Guerreiro (103), Kienuwa Davis (112, regional qualifier), and Ali Bajrami (125, regional qualifier) will not rejoin the team.

  Key returning wrestlers will be Nimantha Herath, David Yarmuth, Nick Tomski and Dylan Wells. Wrestling participation remains consistently high, whit approximately 45 kids coming out for the team. It appears that most starting spots are still up for grabs and it will be a while before things are settled.

  Below is a guess at what the initial starting line-up may look like:

103 - Nimantha Herath, sophomore;
112 - Dan Gambill, sophomore;
119 - Anthony Porto, junior;
125 - David Yarmuth, senior;
130 - Zach Shulz, junior;
135 - Mike Rankin, sophomore;
140 - Dave Gambill, senior;
145 - Nick Tomski, junior;
152 - Derek Southerland, junior;
160 - Steve Cook or C.J. Hicks, juniors;
171 - P.J. Hicks, sophomore;
189 - Justin Roe, junior;
215 - Caleb Schonschack, junior;
285 - Dylan Wells, senior.

  Overall, this is a fairly young and inexperienced team that should show consistent improvement over the course of the season.