Vincent AlonsoWRESTLING
BRUSSELS
Last week: Alonso, a sophomore who earned a European 103-pound silver medal last year, pinned previously unbeaten Garret Ventrice of Ramstein and edged Patch’s Octavio Otero 3-2 in the final seconds Saturday to remain unbeaten this season at 125 pounds. “He’s got a lot of good balance,” Brussels coach Joe Fiedler said by telephone of Otero, 8-0. “He has good mat sense.” That sense came up large at the 3:07 mark of Saturday’s match against Ventrice, as tough a wrestler as he’s likely to encounter. “Ventrice had Vincent up in the air,” Fiedler said “but when he brought him to the mat, Vincent escaped, caught him in a headlock and worked into a double-grapevine for the pin.” The victory against Ventrice, whom Fiedler described as “unbelievably strong,” provided a benchmark for Alonso. “He’s a lot better this year,” Fiedler said of his unbeaten contender. “The (quality of the 125-pound) competition helps, and he does extra work after practice. He really pushes himself.”
Christina LowryMARKSMANSHIPPATCH
Last week: Lowry, a senior who was cut from the team as a freshman, fired a DODDS-Europe season-best 288 out of 300 possible points Saturday to lead the Panthers to a season-high team score of 1,400 out of 1,500 and a 105-point victory over runner-up Heidelberg. According to Patch coach Jack Wayne, the man who cut Lowry three seasons ago, Lowry’s 288 upped her five-match season total to 1,417, just 83 points from perfection and one for the books. “That’s the most regular-season points ever,” Wayne said of the marksman who’ll lead his defending European champions into this Saturday’s season-ending tournament at Hohenfels. Lowry will be attempting to supplant Jessica Walloch of Hohenfels, who shot 284 to win last year’s championship, as the best marksman in DODDS-Europe. “Christina’s on a roll,” Wayne said of Lowry, whose practice with a German shooting club appears to be paying off. “One would hope it continues.” If it does, according to Wayne, it’ll all be in Lowry’s mind. “Christina has big-time concentration,” Wayne said. “She’s the best concentrator I’ve ever seen.”
Selected by Stars and Stripes staff
