Rams run into Huntingdon buzzsaw

by John Dixon

Posted on January 21, 2009

SPRING MILLS — When it comes to wrestling, Penns Valley coach Joel Brinker knows what he's talking about.

Prior to the start of the Rams' meet against Huntingdon on Tuesday night, he thought maybe his team "could be in for a long night."

He was right, as the Bearcats thumped the Rams 60-10 on the strength of seven falls and a pair of forfeits.

"We knew it was going to be a formidable battle against a very good team," Brinker said. "Give credit to Huntingdon, they are a solid wrestling team."

The Bearcats started the match by recording four falls and a forfeit for a 30-0 start.

Huntingdon (12-0), currently the top team in District 6 Class AA, went 6- 0 at the Richland Duals last weekend, where it defeated the six opponents by an average score of 54-15. Against that kind of firepower, Brinker was happy his team's performance.


"Tonight we had a lot better effort then when did in our last match (a 49-25 loss to Milton Hershey in the Juniata Duals)," Brinker said. "We wrestled with a lot more heart, showed a lot more intensity and even in the matches we lost, we managed to keep them close. The kids knew what they were up against."

The match started at 285 and the Bearcats' Andrew Sarra quickly took a 5-0 first-period lead off a takedown and nearfall over the Rams' Eli Covalt. Sarra reversed Covalt in the second, added another nearfall before headlocking Covalt for the fall with one second remaining on the clock.

Following a scoreless first period at 103, Huntingdon's Kie Brown hooked up a cradle and pinned Penns Valley's Caleb Luse in 3:47. The Bearcats' Jesse Runk kept the momentum going at 112, cradling Ram Orry Corman for the fall in 1:30.

Jason Everhart received the first of two forfeits at 119, before teammate Chris Shope built a 4-0 lead on the Rams' Fred Dawson before using a full body press for a fall in 3:35, giving the Bearcats the 30-point advantage.

"Our kids have wrestled well all year," Huntingdon coach John Mykut said. "I thought from top-to-bottom we've been wrestling very well. We knew Penns Valley had some quality kids in the middle in Zettle and Bjamle, and our talk before the match was to keep the intensity going that we've had since the duals. I think we were able to maintain that intensity tonight."

At 130, Penns Valley's Neil Hosterman surrendered a first-period takedown to Nathan Mykut scoring an escape and takedown late in the second for a 3-2 lead. Hosterman controlled the tempo in the third, riding out Mykut for the victory.

The Rams' win was shortlived a Huntingdon's Dylan Gutshall built a 10-0 lead on Alec Winkleblech before pinning Winkleblech in 4:28 at 135. At 140, Penns Valley's Drew Zettle hit a slick single-leg and put the Bearcats' Addison Yingling on his back for a 4-0 start. Zettle reversed Yingling twice in the second period to build an 8-2 advance while picking up two nearfall points in the third for the major decision.

Kody Bjalme made it three wins in four bouts for the Rams when he managed to make a first-period takedown stand up in a 3-1 win over Jake Meyers at 145.

"I thought Hosterman had a big win over a quality opponent," Brinker said. "Drew (Zettle) was solid at 140, Kody (Bjalme) also wrestled a solid match while Adam Yarger just fell short in a very good match for him. We've been beating ourselves and there is still a lot we need to clean up. We are making to many mental errors but we are making progress."

That was to be the Rams' last victory of the night as the Bearcats ran off the last five bouts as Nick Marter stopped Adam Yarger 4-3 at 152, Jordan Detter and Keith Frysinger picked up falls at 160 and 171, respectively, and Tyler Tyler Harshberger used a pair of takedowns and a reversal to fuel a 6-3 win over Ram Elliot Dillon at 189. The Bearcats' Jason Everhart then picked up a forfeit win at 215 to set the final.

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