Image: Sergio Betancort
CL Tao certified on Saturday night its qualification for the final of the Canary Islands Wrestling Cup, by winning the second leg of the tie by 12 to 11 against CLD Tías. The "verdillos" had a one-point advantage from the first leg, not letting themselves be surprised by the fight of CLD Tías, a team that tried at all times to turn the score around. Mario Franquiz and Cristo Hernández were the architects of CL Tao's qualification for the final of the Canary Islands Cup. Both wrestlers contributed four points to their team's score. In the last grapple of the night, Mario Franquiz and Agustín Mayor were mutually eliminated by three warnings in the first grapple.
The first stages of the fight between CL Tao and CLD Tías were marked by equality. Paquito Reyes put the first point on the scoreboard for CLD Tías by knocking Cristo Betancort out of the fight. CL Tao turned the score around with the performances of Daniel López and Gabriel Martín, who eliminated Alejandro García and Cristian Elvira, respectively. Rubén Barrios eliminated Paquito Reyes, putting the score at 3-1 in favour of CL Tao.
CLD Tías reacted by levelling the score and turning it around. Alejandro Quesada knocked Daniel López and Rubén Barrios out of the fight, and Juan Rodríguez scored his fight against Cristian Elvira. Later, Omar Espino levelled the score by knocking Alejandro Quesada out of the fight. CLD Tías gained an important lead on the scoreboard with the performance of the middle of his team. Juan Rodríguez, Chedey Fernández and Sindo Betancort put the score at 4-7, after beating Miguel Ángel Betancort, Acaymo Bonilla and Omar Espino, respectively.
As a result of the three-point lead of CLD Tías on the scoreboard, the stellar performance of Mario Franquiz and Cristo Hernández began to take place. Mario Franquiz knocked Ayonat Caraballo out of the fight and Cristo Hernández was in charge of eliminating the brothers Raúl and Yeray Mayor and Chedey Fernández. Against Raúl Mayor and Chedey Fernández, Cristo Hernández prevailed after finishing the first grapple in separate and hit the ground with his opponent in the second. With the performance of Mario Franquiz and Cristo Hernández, the score already reflected a nine-way tie.
Agustín Mayor was in charge of putting CLD Tías ahead, eliminating Martín Cano to whom he gave the two in a row. Mario Franquiz tied the fight by eliminating Kevin Ortega and Cristo Hernández secured the qualification of CL Tao by eliminating Juan Rodríguez. With the score of 11 to 10, CL Tao already had the qualification for the final in their pocket, because even if Tías won the match, the qualification was for Tao as they had more fights in their favour throughout the tie. In the last grapple of the night, Mario Franquiz and Agustín Mayor were mutually eliminated, committing three warnings in the first grapple for passivity in the fight.
CL Tao obtains the brilliant qualification for the final of the XXX Canary Islands Wrestling Cup. A final that will be held next Friday, April 25 at the Terrero Municipal de Tinajo. The wrestlers led by Manolo Martín are looking for the double, after conquering the Island Tournament of Lanzarote a few months ago.
Technical Sheet
CL Tao (12): Mario Franquiz (4), Martín Cano, Cristo Hernández (4), Miguel Ángel Betancort, Omar Espino (1), Rubén Barrios (1), Roberto Barrios, Alexander Barrios, Acaymo Bonilla, Gabriel Martín (1), Daniel López (1) and Cristo Betancort
CLD Tías (11): Agustín Mayor (2), Yeray Mayor, Chedey Fernández (1), Ayonat Caraballo, Sindo Betancort (1), Kevin Ortega (2), Raúl Mayor, Juan Rodríguez (2), Alejandro Quesada (2), Cristian Elvira, Francisco Reyes (1) and Alejandro García.
Referees: José Antonio Elvira assisted by Sebastián Lemes.
Incidents: Terrero Andrés Curbelo "Pollo de Tao", about 300 spectators. Second leg of the semi-finals of the XXX Canary Islands Cup.
