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TYRONE -- With so many questions being asked about how and when the high school season was going to be wrestled and dual meets being canceled because of COVID-19, Tyrone and Bellwood-Antis were just glad to wrestle Thursday night.
The now 6-4 Golden Eagles won convincingly, 54-11, at home in the wrestling version of the Backyard Brawl, recording four falls, four forfeit wins, a technical fall and two decisions, including an overtime win by freshman 285-pounder Braeden Ewing.
"I was a little bit worried because I heard just with the conferences and stuff, we might not get a chance to wrestle them," Tyrone coach Terry Tate said. "It's always nice to be able to wrestle them. It's always a fun match. Everybody gets excited for it. The rivalry from football keeps carrying over. It's a friendly rivalry, but it's always nice to get a win in a rivalry."
The 2-3 Blue Devils didn't start their season until Jan. 19 against Tussey Mountain.
"Hey, we're wrestling," B-A coach Tim Andrekovich said. "That's a bonus. We wrestle tomorrow (at home against West Branch). We wrestle two on Saturday (at 10:30 a.m. at home against Southern Huntingdon and 1 p.m. at Glendale). I know some other schools are kind of shutting things down, but we're going to keep going. I'm missing some guys with COVID, so that doesn't help."
After Tyrone's Ashton Sipes won by forfeit at 126, teammate Lucas Walk built a 14-3 lead on Tyler McCaulsky before getting the pin in 4:30 at 132.
At 138, Tyrone's Andrew Weaver survived getting reversed to his back by Nick Kost in the second period by scoring seven straight unanswered points for a 12-5 lead and recording the fall in 4:43.
Golden Eagle sophomore 145-pounder Reese Wood scored a takedown off a Xander Shank throw attempt late in the second period for a 3-0 lead. Wood cradled Shank for three nearfall points in the third period en route to a 6-0 win.
"Reese wrestled really well," Tate said. "Xander is a pretty tough kid, and I know they grew up wrestling with each other, so they know each other pretty well. Reese went out and wrestled his match, was able to control the match and just take advantage of some situations."
There was no 152-pound bout because Tyrone's Jermaine Myers moved up to 160 to face Aiden Taylor. Taylor took Myers down with 3 seconds left in the first period, added another takedown in the second and pinned him in 2:45 for B-A's first win.
Returning state qualifier Alex Taylor followed with a 15-0 technical fall over Zach Lash in 5:18 at 172.
"The Taylor boys are my two best guys. It's clear," Andrekovich said. "They took care of business. That was (Alex's) first match. He's had three or four forfeits. It was good to wrestle somebody other than his brother."
"I like to watch the Taylor boys wrestle," Tate said. "They're good wrestlers. They're nice kids off the mat too. As long as they're not wrestling us, I'm rooting for them.
"We have a pretty good relationship with everybody on Bellwood off of the mat. When it gets to the postseason, as long as we're not wrestling anybody from Bellwood and they're not wrestling us, I think it's pretty common to be rooting for each other."
Tyrone's Tommy Hicks and Jason Barr responded with pins in 2:39 and 35 seconds, respectively, to push the Eagles' lead to 33-11.
Ewing was aggressive against Jennings, but he couldn't finish his shots. They appeared headed toward the 30-second tiebreaker periods, but Ewing scored a takedown with 16.9 seconds left on OT to win, 3-1.
"I think he was up like six shots to nothing," Tate said. "One way or another, if he would have had more time, I think he would have gotten another shot off too. He capitalized. He stayed in good position. I thought he wrestled an excellent match."
The dual meet closed with Tyrone's Remington Fleck (106), Korry Walls (113) and Hunter Walk (120) winning by forfeit.
The Eagles wrestle their final dual meet of the regular season at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Altoona.
126--Sipes, T, won by forfeit; 132--L. Walk, T, pinned McCaulsky, 4:30; 138--An. Weaver, T, pinned Kost, 4:43; 145--Wood, T, dec. Shank, 6-0; 152--No bout; 160--Ai. Taylor, BA, pinned Myers, 2:45; 172--Al. Taylor, BA, tech. fall Lash, 15-0, 5:18
189--Hicks, T, pinned Norris, 2:39; 215--Barr, T, pinned Laird, :35; 285--Ewing, T, dec. Jennings, 3-1 OT; 106--Fleck, T, won by forfeit; 113--Walls, T, won by forfeit; 120--H. Walk, T, won by forfeit.
Records: Bellwood-Antis (2-3), Tyrone (6-4)
Referee: Randy Jarrett