Panthers can't close out matches

"As a coach, it kills me (to lose those close matches)," said Burlingame co-coach James Sargent. "[Close losses] carry the momentum. Just like that, it can change."

M-A (4-0) started off strong when Samuel Pech started the match with a pin at 135. Burlingame (3-2) came back with a strong performance from Dan Ramos at 140, as he took a 6-3 lead into the second quarter, building his points on a takedown and nearfall. Ramos nearly pinned Efrain Ramirez, but Ramirez wriggled out of bounds to force a restart of the match.

Ramos upped his lead to 8-3 after a reverse and appeared to be in control of the match. Suddenly, Ramirez came up with a two-point reverse and ended up pinning Ramos to give the Bears a 12-0 lead.

The battle at 145 was similar to the one at 140. Burlingame's Brandon Russell took a 4-0 lead in the first period on two takedowns. After a scoreless second period, Russell was in complete control against Gilbert Flores and was second away from giving Burlingame its first win of the match.

In the last 10 seconds, however, Flores turned the tables on Russell. He got two points on a reverse and three more on a nearfall as time ran out to claim a 6-4 win.

If the Panthers were not completely crushed following that defeat, the one at 160 put the nail in the Burlingame coffin. Down 21-0 after a pin at 152, Burlingame's Paul Floyd and M-A's Roy Souffront engaged in the day's best match. Floyd built a 4-1 lead in the first period and added another two-point takedown early in the second period.

But as in the previous matches, the Bears sprang to life and turned the match around. Souffront got two takedowns and two nearfalls to take an 11-9 lead into the final two minutes. Souffront then earned a one-point escape which turned out to be the winning point when Floyd got a two-point takedown with seconds left in a match that Souffront won 12-11.

"That happens in practice," said M-A coach Chris Bolding. "[Souffront] will be dominated and dominated and all of a sudden, he'll pull off a five-point move."

In those three matches, M-A used the same technique to go from the defensive onto the offensive.

"I'll teach them the defense to that and hope it doesn't happen again," Sargent said.

Burlingame finally picked up its first win of the day at 171 where John Chiu struggled to a 6-1 win. After a Burlingame forfeit at 189 and a double forfeit at 215, Burlingame's James Williams moved up from 189 pounds to heavyweight to take on M-A's Beni Panulo, who out-weighed Williams by nearly 50 pounds.

Panulo held a 4-3 lead after the first round as he tossed Williams for a takedown and then got a two-point reverse. Panulo opened his lead to 6-3 early in the second before Williams' quickness paid off. He picked up two points for a reverse and three more for a nearfall before pinning Panulo for the Panthers first pin of the day.

"[That match] was so exciting. [Williams] wrestles real smart," Sargent said. "He protected his weak spots and used his strengths."

M-A recovered, however, and won the final five matches - two by forfeit and one by pin,