Trending
By Todd Irwin
sports@altoonamirror.com
PHILIPSBURG -- In what was expected to be a really good dual meet, Philipsburg-Osceola held an 18-point lead after the first seven weights on a tense Tuesday night at the P-O gymnasium.
But that's when the unbeaten Golden Eagles methodically clawed their way to a win.
The Eagles won the final six bouts, including Braden Ewing's dramatic 3-1 overtime win over Chase Klinger at 285 to tie the dual meet and Korry Walls' 6-0 win over Sammy McDonald in the final bout at 106 to secure a 33-30 win over the Mounties.
"It was unbelievable," Tyrone coach Quentin Wright said. "These guys have a lot of heart. They went out there and fought for every point. Mathematically, it was a challenge. Most people would have given us 90 percent to lose that match, but these kids went out and won."
"Some of our guys wrestled hard. I was a little disappointed," P-O coach Justin Fye said. "I felt there were a lot of tossup matches from 160 up to heavyweight, and we didn't win any of them. If we win one of them, we win the dual meet."
After Tyrone's Logan Rumberger opened the meet with a pin in 36 seconds at 113, the Mounties (1-2) reeled off pins by Nick Coudriet in 1:31 at 120 and Scotty Frantz in 48 seconds at 126.
After P-O's Ben Gustkey picked up the only forfeit at 132, teammate Marcus Gable was up 7-1 on Lukas Walk late in the bout when he hit a spladle from the top position and pinned him with one second left on the clock.
Tyrone's Reese Wood responded with a pin in 1:21 at 145, but P-O star Austin Foster gave his team a 30-12 lead with a fall in 1:10 at 152.
But then the 4-0 Eagles ran off six wins in a row -- with four of them being shutouts.
At 160, Andrew Weaver made a first-period takedown of Luke Hughes, third-period reversal and some tough riding stand in a 4-0 win.
After Zach Lash recorded a pin in 37 seconds at 172 to make the score 30-21, Jason Barr picked up a 6-0 win over Dom Shaw at 189.
Tyrone's Curtis Wise made his varsity debut a successful one at 215, beating Andrew Hensal, 2-0. Wise reversed with 14 seconds left in the second and rode the entire third period as most of the excited Eagles stood for his bout.
"Curtis Wise has been working his tail off, coming to practice and taking the beatings by the other guys on the team," Wright said. "I talked with the other coaches, and I said let's put him out there. He won that match."
Ewing, who wrestles with Wright in practice, hit a throw at the edge of the mat. Referee Chris Schell awarded the takedown to Ewing for the win. Fye questioned the call, but Schell upheld the takedown and the score was tied, 30-30.
"When I hit that in practice last week, I told him when guys are pushing into you like that, all you have to do is go for it," Wright said. "He's tried it once or twice, and tonight it worked. Braden is very smart. That's what he's done so well for us."
"That was a tough loss," Fye said. "When you don't have a side judge, you can't really argue a call. I felt that they were definitely out of bounds before the whistle blew. Those are two pretty good heavyweights. I have a feeling they're going to be wrestling later on this year at districts."
McDonald nearly hit a throw right off the bat, but Walls got a takedown in the first period and a reversal in the second before the Mountie freshman took injury time. McDonald continued, but Walls got a takedown in the third to clinch Tyrone's thrilling win.
"That's the second time I've done it in my career," Walls said. "It feels good. Our 215-pounder won, so it made it a little easier for us."
"I'm very confident in Korry," Wright said. "He's a tough kid. He likes to win. He likes the pressure. I was a little nervous in the first 10 seconds when the kid almost threw us to our back, but he settled down and got the win."
113--Rumberger, T, pinned Russell, :36; 120--Coudriet, PO, pinned Fleck, 1:31; 126--Frantz, PO, pinned E. Walk, :48; 132--Gustkey, PO, won by forfeit; 138--Gable, PO, pinned L. Walk, 5:59; 145--Wood, T, pinned Phillips, 1:21; 152--Foster, PO, pinned Klein, 1:10
160--Weaver, T, dec. Hughes, 4-0; 172--Lash, T, pinned Richtscheit, :37; 189--Barr, T, dec. Shaw, 6-0; 215--Wise, T, dec. Hensal, 2-0; 285--Ewing, T, dec. Klinger, 3-1 OT; 106--Walls, T, dec. McDonald, 6-0.
Records: Tyrone (4-0); Philipsburg-Osceola (1-2)
Exhibition winner: McKinney, T
Referee: Chris Schell