Grinding it out

by TOM HUNT, Daily Record/Sunday News

Posted on January 7, 2006

Jan 6, 2006 — Big wrestling matches usually produce big individual performances, ones that a coach can single out as a key to victory.
Thursday evening after his Dallastown squad had easily handled rival Red Lion, 41-11, in an important YAIAA Division I showdown, Wildcat wrestling coach Dave Gable thought for a few moments, searching for a name.

He never found one.

"It's nice when you can't pinpoint one wrestler," he said. "Sometimes you can pinpoint someone who really came through with a big pin or a big win. ... I'm pleased with the efforts our kids gave tonight."

In

Red Lion's Jeremy Quickel, right, struggles to knock Cody Glatfelter off balance during the 189-pound match Thursday.
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(Kristin Murphy - YDR)

just the team's second dual match of the year, the homestanding Wildcats won 11 bouts - six straight from 152 to 275 - to grab the frontrunner position for the league title, shared the last two years with Red Lion and Spring Grove.

Dallastown (2-0, 2-0) still has to make the trip to Papertown later this month.

The early season schedule for the Wildcats has featured some excellent competition in the form of the Nazareth tournament and the Manheim Central holiday tournament.

Gable believes that Thursday began the payoff for all the early hard work.

"The experiences of the last couple of weeks showed," said Gable. "Only one wrestler - Justin Myers - was able to get through the early season without any losses. I'm not sure we even

Red Lion's Chris Dahlheimer, bottom, tries to pull Dallastown's Zach Shue to the ground during Thursday's varsity match at Dallastown. Dahlheimer scored a 7-1 victory in the 145-pound bout, but the Wildcats walked away with the 41-11 win in the Division I contest.
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(Kristin Murphy - YDR)

have anyone with just one loss."

Myers was one of the Wildcats' big scorers, registering a dominating 17-1 technical fall of Dustin Floyd in a 160-pound bout in 4:55.

Major decisions by Cody Glatfelter (at 189) and Mike Myers (215) earned a couple more bonus points for Dallastown before big Brad Ladd, the Wildcat 275-pounder, recorded the lone pin of the night, sticking Brad Sheffler with just half a second remaining in the second period.

Those three big men are among seven first-year varsity starters for Gable. With three freshmen included in the first-timers, Gable was hoping to see improvement each time out. And beating the Lions (3-1, 3-1) was a good place for them to show it.

"We want to be progressing each match and the young kids are. Hopefully we're not wrestling our best until February," said Gable.

Ladd's fall gave Dallastown a 28-3 lead. But as Red Lion tried to get back into the match, winning 103 and 112, Gable's son Clay ended the Lions' chances in the 119-pound match.

Wrestling Ryan Luu, the younger Gable recorded two second-period takedowns and then tacked on a third-period reversal to earn a 6-2 win. That decision built the Wildcat lead to 31-11.

For good measure, Zach Oberlander (125), Justin Scott (130), and Zac Sweitzer (135) each won decisions to cap off the big Dallastown effort.

Red Lion got decisions from Chris Albright (103) and Chris Dahlheimer (145) plus a technical fall from Jerrid Hartman (112).

In his team's first match since Dec.22, Lion coach Biff Walizer refused to blame the loss on the layoff, pointing more to the high level of the Wildcat performance.

"Some of the guys were a little beat up so the rest should have done them some good," he said. "Dallastown showed us where we'd like to be. They have a solid team every year, and that's a tribute to their coaching staff."

It was an all-around bad night for Walizer. Lion 171-pound starter Paul Jamison was in a car crash right after school and was unable to compete, forcing him to make adjustments in the lineup.

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