Lightweights carry PV to sixth straight MVC crown

by Mike Kuhns

Posted on February 7, 2008

Pleasant Valley won another wrestling championship. Senior Buddy Gouger won another bout.

Neither came easy.

In his first bout at 160 pounds this year, Gouger nipped Stroudsburg's Zach Dugan 5-4 and the Bears claimed their sixth consecutive Mountain Valley Conference title with a 38-29 victory over the Mounties Wednesday night.

PV's six straight conference championships match two other school programs with six consecutive titles. The Bears' boys soccer team won MVC titles from 2001-06, while the PV girls track team won four straight Centennial League titles from 1991-'94 and then won two MVC titles in 1995 and '96.

"It's nice to have it in my hand," said PV coach Mark Getz, clutching the conference trophy after leading the Bears to the last three MVC titles. "After this year, it was a long year so I've got a pretty tight grip on it. It's nice to have it."

PV won two critical bouts that proved to be the difference. At 130, PV's Mike Pokrinchak held on for a 5-4 win over Ty Lauchaire.

PV's upperweights are not the team's strength, though, so the Bears needed as many points as they could get early. At 152, Chris Servian earned a first-period fall over John Wastie, giving PV a 35-12 lead.

Gouger needed a win against Dugan to clinch the team's sixth title. Dugan, who had about five inches on Gouger, gave the PV senior fits.

Dugan even got in on a few shots, but could not take Gouger down.

"The last couple matches Zach has wrestled, you can tell he's right there," Stroudsburg coach Matt Kleinle said. "To beat these really good guys he just needs to take that one next step hopefully in the next few weeks."

Gouger earned takedowns in the first period and late in the third to clinch the victory. At 160, this was one of many tough bouts to come for the senior.

"(Bangor's Tyler) Foreman's tough, (ES South's) A.J. Davis is tough, Dugan is tough; I mean, (Jeremy) Snyder from Easton, it's a weight class that's filled," Gouger said. "Personally, I think the top three kids in regionals will be three District 11 kids because it's pretty stacked in District 11."

After Gouger's win, Stroudsburg swept the last four bouts. Matt Transue (171), Eddie Brown (189), Allen Marvin (215) and Ryan Powell (285) all won to draw the score close, but mathematically could not win after 160.

PV built a huge lead with six straight wins from 112 to 140, gaining a 29-6 lead. It was a lead Stroudsburg couldn't overcome.

"I knew things were going to start off a little shaky and I knew we could get them at the end, but they wrestled great," Kleinle said. "They deserve it. They wrestled extremely well and we didn't come out to win it tonight. They totally deserve it."

Pleasant Valley 38, Stroudsburg 29
103 — Eric Howey (S) pin Alex Mansour 2:21.
112 — Jordan Toledo (PV) pin Nick Kaiser 2:58.
119 — Matt Yanovich (PV) pin Matt Valentin 2:24.
125 — Sean Applegate (PV) maj dec. Eli Angradi 14-4.
130 — Mike Pokrinchak (PV) dec. Ty Lauchaire 5-4.
135 — Jake Chamberlain (PV) pin Brandon Kleinle 1:26.
140 — Ethan Brewer (PV) maj dec. Mohammed Logelli 13-5.
145 — John Brown (S) pin Cody Matlock 3:15.
152 — Chris Servian (PV) pin John Wastie 1:06.
160 — Buddy Gouger (PV) dec. Zach Dugan 5-4.
171 — Matt Transue (S) tech fall Cameron Kromelbein 17-1, 3:53.
189 — Eddie Brown (S) pin Mark Bumbulsky 1:06.
215 — Allen Marvin (S) dec. Jordan Tittle 7-5.
285 — Ryan Powell (S) dec. Paul Audett 3-0.
Records — Pleasant Valley 8-6, 6-0 MVC; Stroudsburg 10-10, 3-3.

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