Reservoir's Mark Colabucci iced the Gators' cake Wednesday night when he came from behind to beat Old Mill state champion Ron Vaughters and wipe away any doubt about who the Class 4A-3A East regional dual-meet champion is this year.
No. 15 Reservoir edged Stephen Decatur in the semifinal and then burst to a 33-point lead over Old Mill in the final on its way to a 42-25 victory.
When Colabucci won, 9-8, at 145 pounds after rallying from a 7-2 deficit in the second period, Reservoir coach Ryan Kanaskie and his team leaped into the air, shouting.
"We didn't want to avoid that matchup," Kanaskie said. "They hadn't gone head-to-head before, but Mark has grown so much. We certainly respect Ron Vaughters as a state champ, but we were looking forward to that match."
Colabucci said he just kept pushing when he was behind.
"I was gassed, but so was he," he said. "And my dad gave me some advice when we got that little break. He said to do the drag double, which is my favorite move."
Vaughters had his head down when Colabucci suddenly yanked his arm and, before you could blink, had Vaughters on the mat, scoring near-fall points.
"That arm drag did surprise me," Vaughters said. "He's a good wrestler. I wish I'd get another chance to face him, but I'll be at 140 for the county, regional and state competitions. What happened tonight is only going to inspire me to work harder."
A year ago, Reservoir lost in the regional duals to Bel Air when it failed to produce pins at the right times. This time, with a senior-laden squad, the Gators did what they needed to do.
Five pins against Stephen Decatur enabled them to win, 34-32, in the semifinal. Then, against Old Mill, senior Sean Quinn began by pinning his opponent in 46 seconds at 215. After Old Mill forfeited the 285-pound match, Reservoir senior Brian Clinton pinned his opponent at 103 in 1:24 and Josh Knox followed with a fall 57 seconds in at 112.
At that point, the Gators were leading 24-0. A decision and a pin by senior Danny Poore at 125 had the Gators up 33-0, and the celebration was on.
"This is our year," Colabucci said. "I'm a junior, but most of the team is seniors. We've grown so much over the last three years. We've known since I was a freshman this was going to be the year."