×

Ridge second after day one

INDIANA — Chestnut Ridge started off a little bit slow in the first session on the opening day of the Southwest Regional Class 2A Tournament, but the Lions picked it up from there.

Ridge advanced four, and nearly a fifth, into the semifinals on Friday in the Ed Frey Arena at the Kovalchick Convention Center & Athletic Complex, and is in second place by 1¢ points, 46.5-45, to Bishop McCort in the team standings.

The Lions advanced Dylan Williams (113), Justin McCoy (145), Morgan Deremer (160) and Jared McGill (170) into the semis. Another Ridge quarterfinalist, Austin Crouse, who came in with a 16-14 record, took Summit Academy’s Tyler Stine to the hilt before falling, 4-3, at 182.

“I think we’ve wrestled some good matches,” Ridge coach Greg Lazor said. “We lost a couple close ones, but pretty much everyone does here. I think in the second round, we came out a little more aggressive and going after things. We’re improving as the tournament goes. Hopefully we keep doing it.”

Fifteen area wrestlers advanced to the semifinals, including Central Cambria three-time champ Max Murin (138), and are assured of making the trip to the PIAA Championships in a little less than two weeks.

Huntingdon, which won last year’s tournament title, has three in the semifinals in Seth Baney (160), state champion Jacob Oliver (170) and Landon Fisher (220). The Bearcats are in fifth place with 32 points. Burrell (39) and Freedom Area (34.5) are third and fourth, respectively.

“It wasn’t our best day,” Huntingdon coach Jon Mykut said. “We lost a couple that we just didn’t get, but when you get to this level, you run into good kids. So, we have to bounce back and have a better day tomorrow. We brought six here, and we still have six in the tournament.”

The tournament resumes today at 10 a.m. with the consolations. The semifinals are scheduled for noon, and the medal bouts are at 5:30 p.m.

Three of the four semifinal slots at 160 are held by area guys in Moshannon Valley’s Larry Brown, Deremer and Baney, who are ranked second, third and fourth, respectively, by Off The Mat.

Deremer and Baney set up their semifinal clash in comfortable fashion. Deremer cruised with a 12-3 major decision of Tyrone’s Derrick Harris and a 21-6 technical fall in 5:33 of Penns Valley’s Abraham Allebach. Baney had a 41-second pin and a 3-1 decision over Southmoreland’s Jaden Datz.

“It’s going to be a good one,” Lazor said. “Both are quality guys and returning (state) medalists, so there are going to be a lot of eyes on it, and people are going to be excited to see it. Hopefully they deliver.”

“Seth has a match with Deremer tomorrow, so that should be a good one,” Mykut said. “You’ve two solid kids going out and getting after it, and you’ve got to fight to stay in position. You’ve got to wait for your shots to open up and create some angles and make something happen.”

Brown didn’t win as comfortably as the other two in the quarters. After opening with a 6-1 win, he held on for a white-knuckle 2-1 tiebreaker win over South Allegheny’s Cody Jenkins.

Three of the four semifinal slots at 170 are held by area guys. Joining Oliver and McGill is Penn Cambria’s Jarred Stoy, who survived an 8-7 tiebreaker win over McGuffey’s Luke Shingle and then pinned Everett’s Gavin Wills. A potential bout between top-ranked Oliver and third-ranked McGill is highly anticipated.

“McGill looked real good,” Lazor said “He put a lot of points on the board and was very offensive on his feet. It’s very nice to see him scoring from his feet. If he can get a couple takedowns a match and put that with his top work, he’s going to be tough to beat.”

Murin looked like he had injured a leg or an ankle in his 23-6 technical fall of Ellwood City’s Donavin Chambers, but he came right back with a pin of Freedom’s Chase Komara in 1:36.

Also making the semis were Cambria Heights’ Allen Simmons (106), Everett’s Liam Flaherty (132), Mo Valley’s Jon Dale (152), Central’s Brock Biddle (152) and Central Cambria’s Nate Martin (285).

While Biddle rolled with a pin and a 15-0 technical fall, Dale earned a 4-2 win over McGuffey’s Jeff McConn in the prelims and a 2-0 victory over Portage’s Cole Sossong in the quarters. Dale scored a reversal in the third period to break a scoreless tie.

It was a rough day for Everett, which had a great 2016 tournament. Returning champion Flaherty had an 11-2 major decision of Central Cambria’s Austin Washic in the first round, but he eked out a 3-2 win over West Branch’s Dylan Confer in the quarters.

Everett’s returning runners-up, Garret Cornell (113) and Wes Graham (182) were beaten in the quarterfinals.

It was an even rougher day for Northern Bedford returning runner-up Zach Clark, who was pinned by Juniata Valley’s Hunter Kern in the first round and pinned by Marion Center’s Mike Turner in the consolations.

While all eyes will be on the semifinals, the guys in the consolations will be battling to place in the top six at their respective weights to qualify for Hershey.

“Our guys in the consys are going to have to battle through,” Lazor said. “Hopefully we got some jitters out and are ready to go.”

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today