Favorites avoid upsets, advance to semifinals
By BILL HART
Sports Writer
Quarterfinal Bengal Bout action continued late into Sunday evening at the Joyce Center, as the odds-on favorites in the heavier weight classes took to the ring to defend their high seeding.
While Sunday's bouts did not provide much in the way of upsets, hard-hitting action proved to be the tone of the night.
175-pound division
Top seed Tom "The Tulsa Bomber" Biolchini got off to a quick start toward a third title, knocking down Paul "Beast of the East" Riley just more than a minute into the first round. The favorite kept Riley on the defensive by keeping him on the ropes with left-right combinations before the referee called off the fight.
Biolchini's victory was paced by three other heavyweight contenders for the division crown. Senior Tom Dietrich tore into classmate Chris Viasnoras, keeping him off balance while evading multiple roundabout punches. Enough of Viasnoras' punches connected to keep the outcome in doubt until late, when a flurry of Dietrich's punches forced his opponent into the ropes.
"I haven't boxed a lot with Dietrich," Biolchini said about his next opponent. "I know he's a really good athlete, and a really nice guy."
In the most heavily anticipated fight of the division, Steve "The Angry Pirate" Pfeiffer knocked down William Pepek 20 seconds into the third round.
With a raucous crowd waving a Jolly Roger flag in the stands, Pfieffer bided his time until Pepek was forced into a corner, then used an early combo to end the fight.
In the last fight of the division, Josh "The Sandman" Thompson advanced to the semifinals with a victory over Kurt Kurple. Thompson's longer reach, combined with his steady use of combinations, allowed him to take an early advantage in the round and never let go.
180-pound division
Despite the loss of defending champion Mike Romanchek, who sits out with a shoulder injury, a wealth of experience dominates most of the 180-pound bracket.
Top seed Joey "Soda Pop" Leniski found his first stop en route to the division crown to be a major roadblock, earning a split decision victory over Stanford sophomore Keith Arnold. Arnold used a strong second round to even the bout up before a viscous set of combinations by his opponent put the fight away.
Leniski's next opponent will be fellow senior Doug Bartels, who defeated Kyle Smith in a split decision. Bartels came out strong early in the bout, using his power and reach to overcome Smith's jabs and agility.
Smith gathered his second wind to mount a comeback early in the third round, but the punches ran out of steam just before the final bell.
Alumni sophomore Tom DeSplinter, considered a top contender for the weight crown, advanced to the semifinals with a unanimous decision victory over Keough freshman Chris Prill. Despite defeating senior Jeff Welsh in Friday's preliminaries, Prill was unable to overcome DeSplinter's aggressiveness, resulting in a knockdown midway through the third round.
Keough sophomore Mark Criniti earned the final spot of the bracket, knocking off Dillon sophomore Bobby Kennedy 1:10 into the second round with his second knockdown of the night.
190-pound division
Senior Mike Hammes earned the only bye of the weight class, but has experience as well as alertness on his side for Tuesday's bout.
After losing in the finals last season, Hammes will face off against Keough Hall freshman Chris Pearsall, who opened his Bengal Bouts career with an impressive unanimous decision over senior Tom Herrity. According to Pearsall, the relative lack of experience didn't affect his game plan.
"I'd sparred with Tom many times," he said. "So I knew what to expect. I think at this stage of the game, few have that much more experience than others. People are fighting more on stamina and spirit."
As for Tuesday, Pearsall knows that Hammes will provide an imposing challenge.
"I know that he has to be pretty good to earn the top seed," he said. "I actually didn't expect to be fighting in this division. I lost a couple of pounds heading into the bouts. But I've reached my goal, and anything after this is just gravy."
On the other side of the division, Sorin sophomore Jason Rodriguez defeated Morrissey freshman Gavin Hagens 29 seconds into the third round. Rodriguez successfully staved off multiple comebacks by the newcomer with multiple left jabs until the referee stopped the fight.
Dillon sophomore Kevin Brandl rounded out the bracket for Tuesday, overpowering Morrissey freshman Patrick Otlewski for the split decision.
After forcing Otlewski into corners for most of the bout, Brandl staved off one late comeback to the cheers of the Big Red crowd.
200-pound division
The last bracket of the night featured two walkovers, as junior captain
Peter Ryan and graduate student Dan Adam advanced to opposite sides of the semifinals. Adam's opponent, Chris Craylor was forced out due to a shoulder injury.
Ryan will take his first steps into the ring to face off against sophomore Joe Healy, who came back from a difficult first round to earn a split decision against senior Greg Joseph.
Joseph's roundabouts and quick movements kept Healy off guard until late in the second round, when the victor took advantage of steady fatigue.
On the other side, Adam will face a challenge in senior Alumni resident Jonathon Pentzien, who dispatched graduate student Steve Pratico early in the second round to end the night's action.
After forcing an early knockdown in the first round, Pratico had trouble dealing with Pentzien's right after the first break.
"It was, quite honestly, a blur," Pentzien said about the intermission.
"They just kept telling me to throw out my right and stay the heck away from his left."
Despite the victory, Pentzien has no illusions about the task ahead of him.
"Adam's got a great right," he said. "It's probably even greater than Pentzien's left. He's 6-foot-4 and got a great reach. It's going to be a challenge."
All Sports Stories for Monday, February 28, 2000
