JOHNSTOWN - Chestnut Ridge 285-pound sophomore Austin Buttry was worried coming into his bout against Somerset senior Jake Hayman.
"I was real nervous," Buttry said. "I actually didn't think I was going to win. I knew he was a tough wrestler."
Buttry, who is one of the shorter heavyweights you'll find, had nothing to worry about in the end. Leading 2-0, he slipped through a cradle attempt, put Hayman on his back and pinned him in 3:15. He celebrated as the Ridge bench and fans erupted.
"I was just trying to base out and break his lock," Buttry said. "Then when he popped his head over, I just gabbed it and tucked him under. It felt pretty great."
The pin was crucial for the Lions in Saturday night's finals of the Richland Duals. The Lions got a major decision from Derrick Claar at 106, and Trent Crouse's pin of Damian Jano at 113 gave the celebrating Lions a 31-23 win over their District 5 foes.
"We knew it was a big match. We've been looking forward to wrestling them all year," Ridge coach Greg Lazor said. "We won't have to wait long for the next one. It's going to be Tuesday. [Somerset] is an awesome team from top to bottom.. The boys just battled. I couldn't be more proud of them. We got behind early, but we kept staying the course.
"I can't say enough about Buttry and battling Hayman like he did. We didn't have that as six on the paper obviously. He's not going to intimidate too many people, but the boy wrestles all year-round. He goes to more national tournaments than most people around the area. He loves it. He lives it. He doesn't have the physique that most people are going to be intimidated by, but most people don't have his knowledge."
For Chestnut Ridge and Huntingdon, the 28-team Richland Duals turned out to be a very enjoyable two days of the wrestling. For Claysburg-Kimmel, the tournament was unfair and frustrating.
Huntingdon finished fifth, defeating Richland, 60-22, for fifth place and C-K, 44-27, earlier in the day.
The Bulldogs' bad luck started on Friday in a 37-36 loss to Blairsville. Dylan Weyant was disqualified for biting Bobby Thompson. Thompson threw a cross-face from the top, and he told the ref that Weyant bit him, showing him the bite marks.
Three team points were taken away from C-K and Weyant, under PIAA rules, had to sit out the rest of the tournament and possibly the next regular-season dual meet.
"Dylan didn't even know he was getting called for a bite," C-K coach Dave Marko said. "He thought the kid was taking injury time. Anyone who has ever been a wrestler has thrown a cross-face into an open mouth before. The shame of it was we lost that wrestler for today. What happens if we throw him into our lineup during those matches? That kid is inconsolable because he is getting blamed for something he had no part in intentionally doing."
Further frustrating Marko was the 39-31 loss to West Branch for seventh place. With West Branch holding a 36-33 lead going into the final bout between C-K's Nathan Sell, who was injured earlier in the tournament, and Abe Albright. Albright defeated Sell, 1-0, riding Sell the entire third period.
Afterward, Marko said something to the referee, who took two team points away from the Bulldogs.
"I asked one question," Marko said, "and without even getting the answer, I lose a couple team points. Of course, it didn't matter at that point anyway. If you're on top, and you get called for stalling, then you immediately stop the clock. You're not allowed to ride holding the ankle [of your opponent]. He rode holding the ankle for the last 10 seconds, and the general rule of thumb is 5 seconds."
Later, the Lions and Eagles would hook up in a tight match where bonus points were a rarity. Halfway though the match, Somerset held a 20-6 lead.
"Me and the coaches were talking that this was like a college score," Lazor said. "Credit to both teams. Both teams were battling. No one wanted to give up back points. I was proud of some of our middleweights. They kept it as three-point decisions."
Matt Dull began the Lions run with a 9-3 win over Logan Eller at 170. It appeared he was headed for a major decision, but Eller scored a late takedown.
At 182, Tyler Dibert, built a 5-0 lead on Jacob Nickelson after one and went on to win, 9-4, making the score 20-12.
Ridge 195-pounder Dan Albright scored six points in the third period to take an 8-1 lead over Jon Baer, but the Eagle senior made it interesting with an escape, takedown and three nearfall points. Albright, however, won, 8-7.
The 220-pound bout between CR's Luke Fochtman and Somerset's Pat Blough was won by Blough on an interlocking point in the ultimate tiebreaker, giving Somerset a 23-15 lead.
After Buttry's pin, freshmen Claar and Crouse, down to 106 and 113 for the first time this season, took center stage. Claar took Garret Foster down to his back in the first, reversed in the second and got the major with a set of back points.
Crouse hooked up a low-leg cradle as the Ridge fans grew louder and got the pin with 11 seconds left in the first. Crouse jumped into his teammate's arms after getting his hand raised.
"They just dropped, and they're tough," Lazor said. "They are some boys who I think can make some noise for us. I felt good about those matchups. I kept saying 'We've got to keep it in range for our two young guns.' "
The Lions finished the tournament with an 8-0 record and are now 22-4.
"Overall, it was a good tournament. I couldn't be happier right now," Lazor said.
Championship finals
CHESTNUT RIDGE 31, SOMERSET 23
120-Hillegass, CR, pinned Wagner, 2:34; 126-Fabian, S, tech. fall Etterman, 15-0, 5:20; 132-Walker, S, dec. Bence, 4-3; 138-Laue, S, dec. Pfaunmiller, 3-2; 145-Lohr, S, dec. Winegardner, 11-4; 152-Darr, S, dec. Holderbaum, 4-0; 160-Sutton, S, dec. Bollman, 3-1.
170-Dull, CR, dec. Eller, 9-3; 182-Dibert, CR, dec. Nickelson, 9-4; 195-D. Albright, CR, dec. Baer, 8-7; 220-Blough, S, dec. Fochtman, 3-2 OT TB3; 285-Buttry, CR, pinned Hayman, 3:15; 106-Claar, CR, maj. dec. Foster, 9-0; 113-Crouse, CR, pinned Jano, 1:49.
Fifth Place
HUNTINGDON 60, RICHLAND 22
120-Green, H, pinned Cinko, 3:23; 126-Russell, H, pinned McKool, 1:25; 132-Naglic, R, tech. fall Lynn, 16-0, 4:39; 138-D. Peters, H, pinned Li, 1:58; 145-Gutshall, H, pinned Henry, 1:20; 152-Devan, R, pinned O. Peters, 3:07; 160-Bafia, H, pinned M. Rizzo, 3:04.
170-Romano, H, pinned Pecora, :48; 182-Shope, H, pinned Merriman, R, 2:33; 195-Lauer, H, pinned Snopko, 1:43; 220-J. Rizzo, R, pinned Wholaver, :58; 285-Kocik, H, pinned Moose, 2:23; 106-George, R, tech. fall Dubbs, 16-1, 3:03; 113-Wilson, H, pinned Rouser, :59.
Seventh Place
WEST BRANCH 39, C-K 31
120-Fisch, WB, pinned Claar, 3:15; 126-Bumbarger, WB, pinned Hypes, 1:06; 132-Dodson, CK, pinned Quick, 1:06; 138-Dively, CK, maj. dec. Hayles, 14-0; 145-Brown, CK, pinned L. Slippey, 3:05; 152-E. Slippey, WB, dec. Hazim, 7-1; 160-Kristofits, WB, pinned Miller, 1:05.
170-Ickes, CK, pinned Miles, 1:44; 182-Cox, CK, pinned Pearce, 5:32; 195-English, WB, dec. Knisely, 4-1; 220-Maines, WB, pinned Burkett, :22; 285-Feathers, CK, pinned Selepack, 3:12; 106-Brown, CK, tech. fall Sankey, 21-6, 6:00; 113-Albright, WB, dec. Sell, 1-0.
*C-K was deducted two team points after the 113-pound bout for unsporstmanlike conduct
HUNTINGDON 44, CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL 27
113-Wilson, H, pinned Sell, CK,:39; 120-Green, H, dec Claar, 8-5; 126-Russell, H, dec. Hypes, 6-3; 132-Dodson, CK, pinned Lynn, 2:14; 138-Dively, CK, pinned D. Peters, 2:41; 145-Gutshall, H, pinned Brown, 2:46; 152-O. Peters, H, tech fall Hazim, 15-0 ,5:11.
160-Bafia, H, pinned Miller, CK, 3:07; 170-Ickes, CK, dec. Romano, 8-2; 182-Lauer, H, pinned Cox, 1:33; 195-Shope, Hm pinned Burkett, :18; 220-Wholaver, H, dec. Knisely, 9-7; 285-Feathersm CK, pinned Kocik, 1:15; 106-Brown, CK, won by forfeit.
HUNTINGDON 45, JAMESTOWN 28
285-Kocik, H, won by forfeit; 106-Dubbs, H, won by forfeit; 113-Wilson, H, won by forfeit; 120-Reaugh, J, tech. fall Green, 19-2, 4:47; 126-Roberts, J, maj. dec. Russell, 16-6; 132-Floch, J, pinned Lynn, :21; 138-Thurber, J, pinned D. Peters, 1:13.
145-O. Peters, H, pinned Randall, 1:55; 152-Bafia, H, pinned Messai, :53; 160-Romano, H, pinned Doeberiener, :41; 170-Shappee, J, dec. Bookamer, 11-9; 182-Shope, H, pinned Guthrie, 4:41; 195-Laurer, H, dec. Koza, 10-5; 220-Schulen, J, maj. dec. Wholaver, 12-2.
HUNTINGDON 42, TYRONE 22
195-Lauer, H, dec. Isenberg, 5-2; 220-Wholaver, H, dec. Pannebaker, T, 8-6 OT; 285-Kocik, H, pinned Reader, 1:34; 106-Snyder, T, dec. Dubbs, 8-6 OT; 113-Wilson, H, won by forfeit; 120-Schopp, T, tech. fall Green, 16-1, 4:55; 126-Russell, H, dec. McCloskey, 3-0.
132-Lynn, H, won by forfeit; 138-D. Peters, H, pinned Salyer, 1:38; 145-Weston, T, tech. fall O. Peters, 15-0, 4:09; 152-Bafia, H, dec. Getz, 7-3; 160-Wunder, T, pinned Romano, 2:13; 170-Bookamer, H, pinned Wagner, 1:26; 182-Beckwith, T, dec. Shope, 4-0.
