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By James A. McCray III
Prince George's County, Content Manager
On Friday, just one day before Parkdale's wrestling contest at Bowie, Parkdale wrestler Rafael Dasilva won a wrestle-off at the 215-pound weight class to determine if he would wrestle in competition the day after.
In that wrestle off, according to Parkdale head coach Adam Forschner, Dasilva was on his back at one point and used his pure strength to flip his opposition and earn a pin, and thus an opportunity to wrestle on Saturday.
Fast forward to the second-to-last match of Saturday, a match in which Dasilva entered with his team down 33-30.
Dasilva found himself in the curious position of being on his back, almost to the point of a pin, and in similar fashion to the day before, Dasilva used his strength, flipped and pinned his opponent, and sealed Parkdale's 39-36 victory over Bowie.
"He weighed a lot more than me," Dasilva admitted. "So, when I was on my back, I knew I couldn't turn and get over, so I knew I had to throw him or he was going to pin me."
"Yesterday in a wrestle-off he was put in that some position, he got put on his back," Forschner explained. " ... When he was on his back today, I knew what he was looking for. I didn't know if he could do it, but he did it, and wow. It was pure heart and determination on his part."
The pin from Dasilva gave Parkdale a 39-30 lead with only the heavyweight match left.
"We wanted to go out there and have fun," Forschner added. " ... I wanted them go out there and have fun and wrestle their hardest, and they did."
Even with Dasilva's heroics, Forschner believed wholeheartedly that the turning point of the entire contest was in the 145 weight class as Eli Deogracia earned a third-period pin.
Deogracia fought-off a near pin himself in the second period of his respective bout to go on to victory.
"That was the turning point of the entire contest with Eli at 145," the coach explained. " ... Eli is a first-year wrestler and he has been really working hard. I told him if he sticks with wrestling, and he continues to listen, he can really pull this out.
Franklyn Deogracia (103), Eli's brother, started the day off with a pin for Parkdale. Sam Yirenkyi (119), Alpha Jallah (130), and Durrell Thomas (189) each added pins in their respective matches.
Thomas' pin gave the Panthers a 33-30 lead one match after Bowie had reclaimed the lead itself.
As Parkdale improved to 9-2 overall with the win, confidence is heading in the right direction heading into the post-season for the Panthers.
"To me," explained Thomas, "it feels like we won a championship, like the Super Bowl. [Bowie] is a good team, and that was a good accomplishment."
The contest had severe implications on the Prince George's County North division title, as Parkdale's victory created a three-way tie atop the North with Bowie, Parkdale, and Eleanor Roosevelt each with one division loss on the season.
"I think a lot of my kids came in here today thinking that Parkdale lost to Roosevelt; we beat Roosevelt," Bowie head coach Pete Ward explained. " ... I guess you can say it is a reality check right now."
All was not lost for the Bulldogs as Maurice Fleming (112), Aric Harris (135), Jordan Cherry (140), Josh Sanders (152), and Andrew Harding (285) each added pins in a see-saw battle.
Bowie's KeyShaun Ward (160) also won in a rematch of a 2008 post-season meeting with Parkdale's Paul Tshikaya with a 4-3 decision.
tmccray@digitalsports.com
Parkdale 39, Bowie 36
103 F. Deogracia (P) pinned Sanjines, 2:15
112 Fleming (B) pinned Mundit, 2:15
119 Yirenkyi (P) pinned E. Santone, 0:40
125 Rhodes (P) dec. Martin, 13-6
130 Jallah (P) pinned T. Santone, 1:06
135 Harris (B) pinned Issac, 1:39
140 Cherry (B) pinned Dumar, 1:08
145 E. Deogracia (P) pinned, 5:08
152 Sanders (B) pinned Carter, 2:34
160 Ward (B) dec. Tshikaya, 4-3
171 Jackson (B) dec. Scott, 6-1
189 Thomas (P) pinned Lewis, 1:07
215 Dasilva (P) pinned Brown, 3:38
285 Harding (B) pinned Mendez, 3:10
