Eagles soar over Green Dragons

by Brett R. Crossley

Posted on December 11, 2008

MANDATA -- Last weekend, Line Mountain looked to be delivering on the preseason-hype it received as it finished fourth in the Top Hat Tournament and had three wrestlers win their respective weight classes.


Wednesday night, the Eagles started their regular season and kept things rolling with a 43-27 non-league win over Lewisburg in the regular-season opener for both teams.

Fresh off their first-place finishes at the Top Hat tournament, Travis Erdman and Jon Fausey scored quick pins.

"Before we went out we talked about bonus points," Line Mountain coach Mike Martz said. "We wanted the extra points in case anyone lost or we fell behind. It is our philosophy to get the extra points whenever possible."

The one eye-opening moment of the match came when Josh Nguyen fell to Brain Van Sickle in the 152-pound match. Nguyen, the other of the three to win his weight class at the Top Hat Tournament, fell behind after getting a quick two points to open the match. Following a stoppage after both wrestlers battled their way out of the circle, Nguyen elected to give Van Sickle the escape. The move came back to haunt Nguyen as Van Sickle picked up another two points on a takedown to end the first period up 4-3.

Van Sickle almost ended the match at the start of the second when he rolled Nguyen over and came within inches of getting the pin. Van Sickle then battled his way through the second to take a 5-4 advantage. Van Sickle continued to hold Nguyen down through the third to take the 8-4 win.

"Lewisburg is a quality program," Martz said. "I expected it to be a close match. I wasn't surprised by anything that happened. We have a lot of basic stuff to work out, but I am happy with our performance and the effort the guys gave tonight."

Jon Fausey moved up one weight class to benefit his team and made quick work of his opponent. After getting a takedown to open the match, Fausey worked his opponent on the mat and got the pin.

"Our guys will go wherever they need to go," Martz said. "Anything for the betterment of the team. I told them its going to be like that all year."

Line Mountain looked to still have some of the momentum from the weekend as it got four consecutive pins following a 14-1 major decision win by Tim Botkin to open the match.

"I was surprised we got four pins," Martz said. "It was a pleasant surprise and a great way to start the match. The bonus points really helped us tonight."

As the Eagles looked to be ready to shift into cruise control, the Green Dragons got four consecutive wins, including two pins and Van Sickle taking out Nguyen, to pull within 39-29. Ryan Klinger then ended any thought of a late comeback when he pinned Jacob Parkes and the Eagles won the next three bouts.

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