Practice made perfect for Altoona Area High School senior Brad Sinclair Tuesday night.
Sinclair, the Mountain Lions' 220-pounder, has been spending a lot of time in the wrestling practice room trying to perfect his headlock move.
All the effort paid off handsomely Tuesday, as Sinclair used the headlock to pin Tyrone standout Courtland Pannebaker in 52 seconds to spark the Mountain Lions to a 46-29 dual meet victory at the Altoona Area Junior High School gymnasium.
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Mirror photo by Darian Somers
Altoona’s Brad Sinclair locks up Tyrone’s Courtland Pannebaker in the 220-pound match.
With Altoona trailing in the match, 23-18, Sinclair (8-8 this season) cranked the headlock to deal Pannebaker his first loss in seven decisions this season and give Altoona the lead for good, 24-23.
"I was just trying to wrestle my hardest out there,'' Sinclair said. "The headlock is something that I've been working on in practice. I've been trying to make it my move, and it's showing in the matches.''
Sinclair's victory was a key match in the bout for Altoona. Others were junior Damien Smith's 4:41 win by fall over Justin Reader at 285, sophomore Nathaniel Buckrop's 5-4 overtime decision over Ryan Isenberg at 195, and senior Connor Lesniak's 4-2 overtime win over Christian Getz at 152.
"I think the match was won or lost at 195, 220, and 285,'' said Altoona coach Joel Gilbert, whose Mountain Lions improved to 3-7 in dual meets. "Those three guys gutted out an overtime win and two falls over some pretty good wrestlers. They all came through and came up big.''
Buckrop used a takedown in the second 30-minute tiebreaker period to win, 5-4 at 195, and Smith broke a scoreless tie with a reversal and three near-fall points before picking up the fall at 285. At 152, Lesniak came up with a winning takedown in overtime.
Altoona got falls from three juniors. Markief Knode pinned Markus Wagner in 2:34 at 170, while T.J. Brandt improved his season record to 14-2 by ending the dual meet with a 69-second clamping of Dustin Sprankle at 126. At 138, Dylan Rodgers pinned Alan Sayer in 3:19.
"The pins just killed us,'' said Tyrone coach Blair Packer, whose team dropped to 2-3. "Altoona took it to us. You've got to hand it to them.''
In the feature bout of the night, at 120, standout Altoona freshman D.J. Hollingshead (17-1) racked up 10 third-period points to major-decision sophomore Jason Schopp, 14-0. It was just Schopp's second loss in 12 outings this year. Altoona also got a forfeit win from sophomore Dan Querry at 106.
"A.J. Hollingshead is a real workhorse,'' Gilbert said. "He wrestles more like a senior than a freshman.''
Tyrone bolted to a 23-15 lead midway through the bout, courtesy of falls from junior Luke McCloskey leading off the night at 132 and junior D.J. Wunder at 160, along with a 16-0 win by technical fall in 5:44 by senior Dylan Weston (13-1) at 145.
The Golden Eagles got another pin from freshman Ty Synder at 113 in what turned out to be one of the more exciting, wide-open bouts of the night. Snyder trailed sophomore Jay Rimbeck, 11-7 in the third period before scoring a reversal and getting the fall at the 3:46 mark.
Tyrone's Jared Beckwith won by forfeit at 182.
"Altoona has a nice group,'' Packer said. "In a lot of the tighter matches, Altoona just seemed to have it tonight.''
Altoona will wrestle in the Mifflin County Duals on Saturday. Tyrone hosts undefeated Mount Union on Thursday night.
132-McCloskey, T, pinned Price, 2:35. 138-Rodgers, A, pinned Salyer, 3:19. 145-Weston, T, tech. fall Luciano, 16-0, 5:44. 152-Lesniak, A, dec. Getz, 4-2 OT. 160-Wunder, T, pinned Dillon, :45. 170-Knode, A, pinned M. Wagner, 2:34. 182-Beckwith, T, won by forfeit.
195-Buckrop, A, dec. Isenberg, 5-4 OT. 220-Sinclair, A, pinned Pannebaker, :52. 285-Smith, A, pinned Reader, 4:41. 106-Querry, A, won by forfeit. 113-Snyder, T, pinned Rimbeck, 3:46. 120-Hollingshead, A, maj. dec. Schopp, 14-0. 126-Brandt, A, pinned Sprankle, 1:09.
Records: Tyrone (2-3); Altoona (3-7).
Official: John Edgell.
