TYRONE - A forfeit-fest turned into a chess match during the Tyrone-Bellwood-Antis wrestling dual meet Thursday night, and veteran Golden Eagles' coach Blair Packer was able to make some pretty advantageous moves.
Packer, who earlier this season notched his 300th career coaching victory and also earned induction into the District 6 Wrestling Hall of Fame, moved a few people around in his lineup after his team had won the pre-match disk flip.
In a match that featured eight forfeits - four by each team - the moves helped Tyrone win a 48-30 decision at the Tyrone Area High School gymnasium.
"We moved our 106-pounder up to 113, and got a forfeit, and we moved our 120-pounder up to 126, and got a forfeit,'' Packer said. "Sometimes, the disk flip can be crucial in a match. We would have liked to have wrestled all the bouts, but you have to put the team concerns ahead of the individual concerns.''
Tyrone picked up forfeit victories from Markus Wagner at 170, Ty Snyder at 113 pounds, Jason Schopp at 126, and Luke McCloskey at 132.
The Golden Eagles (7-8 in dual meets) also got falls from D.J. Wunder at 160, Jared Beckwith at 182, and Justin Reader at 285.
Wunder and Beckwith both improved their season records to 18-6. Wunder pinned Dillon Denny in 2:29, and Beckwith clamped Matt Jenkins in 1:29.
"Wunder and Beckwith have been doing it all year for us,'' Packer said.
Reader needed only 12 seconds to pin Alec Bowers in the 285-pound bout.
"Reader's pin gave us the bonus points we were shooting for,'' Packer said.
Tyrone also won the feature match of the night at 145, when Dylan Weston escaped near the edge of the mat with just under 10 seconds remaining to top Trevor Helsley, 1-0 in a matchup of returning senior Southwest AA Regional Tournament qualifiers. Weston is 22-3 this season, while Helsley is 20-2.
"Trevor and Dylan are both good quality kids,'' said Bellwood coach Ron Wilson, whose team dropped to 5-13 in dual meets. "That was a matchup we wanted to see. It was a good match. Each kid had scoring opportunities.''
Tyrone's other win came at 152, where football hero Christian Getz built a 9-0 lead over Cameron Astore after one period and hung on for a 14-10 victory.
Bellwood-Antis got forfeit victories from Nick Torsell at 138, R.J. Focht at 220, Kyle Fink at 106, and Jared Woomer at 120. Woomer is 20-1 this season.
The Blue Devils' Keith Shawley won by fall at 195, pinning Courtland Pannebaker in 2:48.
Wilson had only 10 wrestlers available Thursday.
"It's an ongoing issue - getting enough kids to wrestle,'' he said. "This year, we [also] have some kids who don't have a whole lot of experience at some weight classes, but they deserve a lot of credit for giving a good effort tonight.''
138-Torsell, BA, won by forfeit. 145-Weston, T, dec. Helsley, 1-0. 152-Getz, T, dec. Astore, 14-10. 160-Wunder, T, pinned Denny, 2:29. 170-Wagner, T, won by forfeit. 182-Beckwith, T, pinned Jenkins, 1:29. 195-Shawley, BA, pinned Pannebaker, 2:48.
220-Focht, BA, won by forfeit. 285-Reader, T, pinned Bowers, :12. 106-Fink, BA, won by forfeit. 113-Snyder, T, won by forfeit. 120-Woomer, BA, won by forfeit. 126-Schopp, T, won by forfeit. 132-McCloskey, T, won by forfeit.
Records: Bellwood-Antis (5-13); Tyrone (7-8).
