Eagles’ freshman advances in AAA

by BY DAVE LAURIHA

Posted on March 4, 2007

BETHLEHEM — The stage seemed perfectly set for Blue Mountain to have two qualifiers for the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships.




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Both Josh Kindig (119 pounds) and Cort Choate (125) had bounced back from frustrating semifinal-round losses Saturday at the Class AAA Northeast Regionals, and worked their way back to the consolation finals.

Not only that, but both were paired against opponents they had beaten Friday night in the quarterfinals.

Both will spend the next week in the practice room as partners, but only Kindig will be at the state meet as an athlete.

Kindig blitzed Jersey Shore’s Ty Kanouff, needing just 2:41 for a 17-2 technical fall for the most dominating performance of the third-place bouts.

However, Choate won’t be in his Eagles singlet at the Giant Center in Hershey as the sophomore fell to Crestwood’s Jake O’Hara 3-1 to place fourth.

“Cort had a tough one,” Eagles coach Tod Kindig said. “He had a big win over O’Hara (Friday), and we hoped he’d have one over (Northampton’s Shane) Fenningham (in the semifinals).

“Josh and Cort are trained to attack, always on the go, but we saw a lot of stalling down here.”

Choate beat O’Hara 9-1 Friday, but made one mistake and gave up a second-period takedown that put the sophomore behind.

Choate (36-8) never led against Fenningham in the semifinals, losing 2-0.

“When you’re a step behind, you’re playing catch-up,” Coach Kindig said.

Josh Kindig (35-5) lost to Whitehall’s Gary Atiyeh 8-4 in the semifinals, a bout the freshman said he needed to forget about quickly.

“With only the top three going to states, I had to keep my head on straight,” Kindig said. “I went to my back once, and it was my mistake.”

Atiyeh went to his prevent defense and staved off Kindig.

“He changed his style and was more defensive,” Kindig said.

Kindig rebounded from his semifinal loss by pinning Nazareth’s Dave Dotter in 43 seconds in the consolation semifinals. Choate also was impressive, decisioning Nazareth’s Colin Fischl 3-2.

In his third-place bout, Kindig did not allow Kanouff in the match. After beating the Jersey Shore junior 20-7 Friday, Kindig hit a takedown and got six back points for an 8-0 lead in the first period.

But there would be no stalling on the freshman’s part, rolling up nine more points to put the win away quickly.



©The REPUBLICAN & Herald 2007

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