Tuesday night recap 12-11-12

Here are results from Tuesday night's matches, along with some analysis:

Bedford 62, Somerset 15

  152 - Tanner Williams, B, pinned Daniel Talley, 3:26.
  160 - Landon Lohr, S, pinned Niklas Wendt, 0:55.
  170 - Caleb Grimes, B, won by forfeit.
  182 - Michael Brett, B, pinned Logan Eller, 1:01.
  195 - Jacob Nickelson, S, pinned Robert Minnich, 1:01.
  220 - Chance Williams, B, won by forfeit.
  285 - Nate Shoemaker, B, won by forfeit.
  106 - Jonathan Gabriel, B, won by forfeit.
  113 - Jake Warren, B, pinned Garret Foster, 3:47.
  120 - Kyle Mehle, B, pinned Tyler Walker, 2:52.
  126 - Ryan Easter, B, tech. fall Sheldon Wagner, 19-2, 5:22.
  132 - Garrett Thomas, B, pinned Bailey Phillips, 0:47.
  138 - Toby Brett, B, dec. Jon Fabian, 3-1.
  145 - Mike Laue, S, dec. Kenny Collins, 2-1. 

Records: Bedford 1-0; Somerset 0-1.

Analysis: I was planning to go to this match, but something came up at work and I didn’t get out of the office in time to make the drive to Bedford. In hindsight, I’m glad I didn’t.

I didn’t expect this to be a close match, but without breaking down matchups, I would have guessed a 20- or 30-point differential, not 47 points. I knew that Somerset wouldn’t be as good as last year. Not only did they lose a talented senior class, but the Golden Eagles also lost their best wrestler in Michael Sutton, whose family moved to the Erie area. He’ll be wrestling for General McLane this year.

I also didn’t know that the Golden Eagles would give up four forfeits. That’s not just 24 points, but they were given up to some of the weaker spots in the Bisons’ lineup. Without only having seen the Bedford roster and not their actual weights, it looks like the upper weights could be a real problem for coach Brian Creps. He doesn’t list any 182, 195 or 220-pounders on his roster. Obviously the Bedford coaching staff is too smart to give up forfeits in those spots most matches and will find ways to get the best matchups possible in them, but they could often be using undersized guys to plug holes.

In this one, that wasn’t a problem, as they got a forfeit at 170, used one of their better guys at 182 in Michael Brett, then added forfeits at 220 and 285. They gave up six points to Jacob Nickelson at 195, but would gladly trade that for the 24 they got in the upper weights.

The other reason I wanted to attend the match was to see Jonathan Gabriel in person. Again, I didn’t miss out on anything, as the talented Bedford freshman got a forfeit at 106 pounds. I expect him to be the top freshman in the area this season.

Jake Warren pinning Garret Foster at 113 intrigues me, and it does look like there were a couple of good matches at the very end of the night. Toby Brett’s 3-1 decision over Jon Fabian would have to qualify as the highlight of the night, but the outcome that interests me the most is Mike Laue’s 2-1 victory over Kenny Collins at 145. I don’t know anything about Collins, but such a tight match with a quality wrestler like Laue tells me that I might find out more about him rather quickly.

Ryan Spring of the Bedford Gazette did tell me that Somerset’s Damian Jano was out with an injury.

The Daily American has a story on the match here.

Meyersdale 56, Portage 18
220-Cameron Neel, P, forfeit
285-Justin Dunmeyer, M, forfeit
106-Trevor Thomas, M, forfeit
113-Billy Charlton, M, forfeit
120-Brady McKenzie, M, pinned Brady Ratosky, :51
126-Collin Day, M, maj. dec. Nick Lutz, 14-2
132-Tanner Hetrick, M, dec. Chase Fox, 5-4
138-Hunter Lantz, M, forfeit
145-David Stanton, M, forfeit
152-Seth Deist, M, maj. dec. Caleb Kephart, 18-10
160-Austin Imler, M, pinned Frank Fordick, 1:12
170-Cody Kephart, P, pinned Blake Hoover, 2:25
182-Gavin Berkley, M, dec. Paul Husar, 4-0 
195-Charlie Litzinger, P, by forfeit
Records: Meyersdale 1-0; Portage 0-4.

Analysis: Not too much to write home about here, as half of the matches were forfeit. Four of those went in favor of Meyersdale. The Red Raiders also won six of the seven contested matches.

The highlight of the night looks like the 132-pound bout, where Tanner Hetrick (35-7 last year) edged Chase Fox (17-9). The other good matchup was at 182, as Gavin Berkley beat Paul Husar 4-0.

The Daily American has a brief on the match here.

Forest Hills 52, Johnstown 24
152-Ian Shugars, FH, pinned Will Gomez, 2:39.
160-Cody Law, FH, maj. dec. Jesaiah Wilson, 12-3.
170-Richard White, J, pinned Jacob Colbert, :44.
182-Zach Pinkas, FH, pinned Bailey Piscatello, :36.
195-Nate Litvin, J, pinned Billy Kovalcik, 3:03.
220-Jarrett Bowen, FH, forfeit.
285-Noah Eckenrode, J, forfeit.
106-Tanner McCall, FH, forfeit.
113-Tristan Law, FH, forfeit.
120-Jake Keiper, FH, forfeit.
126-Josh Gould, FH, forfeit.
132-No match.
138-Rodney Hall, J, forfeit.
145-Chris Knotts, FH, forfeit.
Records: Forest Hills 1-0, Johnstown 0-1

Analysis: I didn't have a chance to look at the projected lineups for these squads prior to the match, but seeing the box score, it's a big disappointment to see that only five matches were contested. Nine consecutive bouts were either a forfeit or, in the case of 132 pounds, no match. That's a shame.
Johnstown seemed like it had been making real strides last season, and from the PJW results, I know they have some talented younger wrestlers. But for the Trojans to have six weight classes where they couldn't send out a wrestler is disappointing.
As far as the results go, there's not much to pick from. The biggest thing that jumps out at me is that Cody Law only beat Jesaiah Wilson 12-3. That's not meant as a criticism of Wilson, who went 13-15 last year. It's simply a testament of how much is expected out of Law. He was a scoring machine last year, when he finished second in the state, and has already committed to wrestle for Cael Sanderson at Penn State. There will be a lot more pressure on Law this year and most of us will expect him to score five or six points in almost every dual. When he doesn't, it will raise a few eyebrows, as this one surely will.

Penn Cambria 43, Central Cambria 34

170-Myers, PC, pinned Bowser, 1:27.
182-Wyland, PC, pinned Crow, 1:27.
195-Croft, CC, pinned Smith, :37.
220-Schlosser, PC, pinned Rickard, 2:33.
285-Branick, CC, forfeit.
106-Ostrowski, CC, forfeit.
113-Stevens, PC, pinned Lazaration, :49.
120-Opdenhoff, CC, pinned Biter, :48.
126-Taylor, CC, maj. dec. Japp, 14-0.
132-A. Farabaugh, PC, pinned Makin, 3:25.
138-D. Farabaugh, PC, maj. dec. Bednar, 9-1.
145-Bilonick, CC, pinned Eckenrode, 5:23.
152-Hogue, PC, pinned Karlinsey 1:59.
160-Driskel, PC, dec. Kline, 6-1.
Record: Central Cambria 3-4.

Analysis: I don't know too much about either of these teams, but the first thing that I noticed is that there is no Link in Penn Cambria's lineup. The family that has produced three standouts for Penn Cambria and Pitt-Johnstown has a fourth talented wrestler who was too small to wrestle 106 last season as a freshman. I expected him to have put on some weight and be in the lineup this season, but apparently he's still only 92 pounds and won't be on the team. Penn Cambria forfeited 106 in this match as well as 285, where the Panthers were without Seth McLendon, who won 29 matches and was a regional qualifier last season. I was told that McLendon will be out until January, so Penn Cambria will have to make do without him for now.
Penn Cambria coach Todd Niebauer bumped his wrestlers up and it worked out, for the most part, but there was one hiccup. Michael Eckenrode was leading Tanner Bilonick 10-1 in the third period when he got caught and pinned.