Published: February 23, 2008 12:22 am      

HS WRESTLING: Wheatfield has a 'Golden' star

WHEATFIELD — Imagine the pressure Rahshon Tabb or Robby Seyler might feel if their team trailed by three points with under 10 seconds remaining. Now equate that with the pressure of being down three points in wrestling — a sport where points are much harder to come by than on the hardwood.

That exact situation fell onto the plate of Niagara-Wheatfield senior John Golden last week at the Section VI Class AAAA championships. Golden trailed Lancaster’s Matt Waldmiller, the top-ranked 112-pound wrestler in Western New York at the time, 3-0 with nine seconds left in the match.

Then in the matter of, literally, a split-second, Golden stood up and caught Waldmiller in a head-and-arm maneuver to earn two points.

“He made a mistake and I capitalized on it,” Golden said.

Golden then stepped over Waldmiller and as the buzzer sounded was awarded another two points to win the match, 4-3.

“It was pandemonium,” N-W coach Rick Sweney said. “Everyone was going crazy.”

So did Golden really think he was going to win?

“Coming in I was very confident,” he said while adding, “but I’m not going to lie, when I was down 3-0 I thought it was over.”

But even when that thought flashed across his mind, Golden immediately went back to all the hard work and dedication he’d put in the last few years.

“I could hear (assistant) coach (Vince) Schiffert screaming and I just reached back for everything I had,” he said.

That kind of resiliency is typical of Golden, according to Sweney. In fact, last year Golden was forced up to 125 despite only weighing about 115 pounds. He had a strong season there, but with the graduation of Antonio Ventry he was able to move back down to his natural slot at 112 for this his senior year.

And he really took off going 25-10 during the regular season. Even though the 10 losses may seem a bit high, most of those occurred while Golden wrestled with a broken bone in his hand midway through the season. After taking a few weeks off, Golden went right back at it and has reached new heights the past few weeks, culminating in last Saturday’s win at the Class AAAA championships.

“He’s a real tough kid and he’s worked hard all year,” Sweney said.

Now, Golden is preparing for today’s Section VI large school championships at Kenmore West where he is the No. 1 seed after last week’s win. Waldmiller is the second seed, so a rematch in the finals is very likely. And that’s just fine by Golden.

“I think I’m a better wrestler than him,” Golden said. “If I stay on my feet and work on getting my takedowns in I should be fine. I’ve been watching him all year, so I’m ready to throw it down (Saturday).”

Golden plans to continue his wrestling career at Niagara County Community College for legendary coach Eric Knuutila next fall. He will study physical education with plans to attend either Cortland State or Canisius after NCCC.

Contact reporter Nate Beutel at 282-2311, ext. 2262.