Bearcats take down Mounties in tight contest
HUNTINGDON — Given last year’s nailbiter between Huntingdon and Philipsburg-Osceola — won by the Bearcats — Tuesday’s dual meet between the teams figured to be another tight match.
They didn’t disappoint.
In a dual meet with seven bouts decided by four points or less, the Bearcats, seeing their first action of the season, got a tiebreaker win by Andrew Finkle at 160 and a 1-0 win by Zack Peck at 220 to swing the match their way over the Mounties, 34-25.
“I thought it was a well wrestled match for both sides,” Huntingdon coach Jon Mykut said. “They have a nice team. There wasn’t a lot of bonus points to be had, and there was a lot of scrapping out there. We had some big wins coming up through the lineup.”
“We wrestled real well,” said P-O coach Brad Pataky, whose team went 4-1 at the Mountaineer Duals Saturday. “There were a lot of pros out of that. They’ve had good teams for years. Come February, I think that match will be a little bit different, but it was good.”
The meet started with a matchup of talented 138-pounders in P-O’s Chase Chapman and Huntingdon’s Jacob Wagner. Chapman (6-0) broke a 1-1 tie with a takedown 12 seconds into the third period, and he rode the rest of the way for a 3-1 win.
At 145, Huntingdon’s Brian Deline rolled to a 15-4 major decision over Alex Dunkelberger. P-O 152-pounder Hunter Weitoish (6-0) followed with a pin of Draven Zook in 1:37, setting the stage for the 160-pound bout.
P-O’s Matt Shimmel took a 3-1 lead with a takedown of Finkle at the 1:15 mark in the third period. Finkle escaped with 36 seconds, and he was awarded a stalling point with 25 seconds left to tie the score.
After a scoreless overtime, Finkle rode Shimmel in the first 30-second tiebreaker, nearly losing his grasp of Shimmel before gaining control. Finkle reversed Shimmel to his back in the next 30-second period to win, 7-3, thrilling the Huntingdon fans.
“That was a huge win for us there,” Mykut said. “We had that one as a tossup between two quality kids who have been around for awhile. Finkle didn’t give up, and we preach that in the practice room all of the time. Something opened up in overtime, and he took advantage of it.”
At 170, Myles Baney made two takedowns and an escape stand in a 5-1 win over Tristan Beauseigneur.
The 182-pound bout between Huntingdon’s returning state qualifier Ryder Kocik and P-O sophomore Parker Moore figured to be a mismatch, but Moore was having none of that.
Moore avoided Kocik’s big moves and was within a point, 4-3, in the second when Kocik scored a takedown with 20 seconds left in the second period and earned three nearfall points for a 9-3 lead. Moore took Kocik down in the third period and scored two nearfall points at the edge of the mat to make the score 9-7, igniting the P-O bench. Kocik, though, escaped with 10 seconds left and won, 10-7.
“That was a great match,” Pataky said. “Parker is just one of those kids who is extremely coachable, and he gets better every single match. That’s all you can ask for.”
“We’ve got to work on our conditioning there,” Mykut said, “but it will come. We’ll be okay.”
Gage Peters swung the momentum back toward the Bearcats with a pin of Dylan Yastro in 36 seconds at 195.
Peck and Tyler Anderson went scoreless through the first two periods at 220 before Peck escaped. Peck remained in good position to win, 1-0, giving the Bearcats a 19-9 lead.
“We’re giving up 30 pounds there to their kid,” Mykut said. “Zack just scrapped away at it. That was a big one.”
Izzy Reed, one of the heroes of last year’s match, moved up to 285 and pinned Jimmy Bryan in 2:20.
The Mounties won the next four weights.
At 106, Nick Bryan reversed Eden Bryan with 16 seconds remaining to win, 3-2. Freshman Nick Coudriet followed with a pin of Eric Miley in 1:02.
P-O freshman 120-pounder Austin Foster scored six unanswered points in the third period to earn a 12-1 major decision over Caden Reamer.
Gabe Dunkelberger scored a reversal with 12 seconds left to edge Roland Mills, 6-4, at 126. The Bearcats held a 28-25 lead, but P-O had to forfeit to Brynen Kisiel at 132 to finish the meet.
“Come February we’ll have little different lineup, but as of right now, we have a hole right there,” Pataky said. “The best thing about that is the rest of the team has to make up for it. That teaches them a life lesson, where you have to carry your brother sometime.”
138–Chapman, PO, dec. J. Wagner, 3-1; 145–Deline, H, maj. dec. A. Dunkelberger, 15-4; 152–Weitoish, PO, pinned Zook, 1:37; 160–Finkle, H, dec. Shimmel, 7-3 TB; 170–Baney, H, dec. Beauseigneur, 5-1; 182–Kocik, H, dec. Moore, 10-7; 195–Peters, H, pinned Yastro, :36
220–Peck, H, dec. Anderson, 1-0; 285–Reed, H, pinned J. Bryan, 2:20; 106–N. Bryan, PO, dec. E. Wagner, 3-2; 113–Coudriet, PO, pinned Miley, 1:02; 120–Foster, PO, maj. dec. Reamer, 12-1; 126–G. Dunkelberger, PO, dec. Mills, 6-4; 132–Kisiel, H, won by forfeit.
Records: Philipsburg-Osceola (4-2), Huntingdon (1-0)
Exhibition winners: Morder, H; Stamm, PO; Barnyak, PO
Referee: John Edgell
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