Thursday night recap 1-17-2013

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Chestnut Ridge's Dan Albright (left) ties up with Berlin's
Mitchell Walker during their 220-pound match.

There were a number of tight dual meets on Thursday, but the most anticipated one didn't end up being close at all. I'll get to the other matches as my schedule allows it.

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Tommy DeArmitt bridges while looking for a defensive
fall over Blake Dunlap at 113. The strategy didn't
work, as Dunlap got three backpoints and an 8-2 victory.

Chestnut Ridge 43, Berlin Brothersvalley 19
132-Trent Crouse, CR, dec. Chris Miller, 11-7.
138-Braden Fochtman, BB, maj. dec. Colby Hillegass, 16-3.
145-Jerimiah Zimmerman, CR, dec. Eric Darr, 4-3.
152-Blake Miller, BB, pinned Kyle Winegardner, 3:41.
160-Bryce Fochtman, BB, dec. Connor Buttry, 2-0.
170-Bradie Bollman, CR, maj. dec. Trevor Moore, 9-0.
182-Tyler Dibert, CR, pinned Shane Pepper, 2:52.
195-Brad Winegardner, CR, dec. Stew Trulick, 6-4.
220-Dan Albright, CR, dec. Mitchell Walker, 4-3 (OT).
285-Austin Buttry, CR, pinned Anthony Collins, 1:59.
106-Aaron Burkett, CR, pinned Emil Kiesnowski, :25.
113-Blake Dunlap, CR, dec. Tommy DeArmitt, 8-2.
120-Joey Swank, BB, pinned Sam Shank, 5:02.
126-Derrick Claar, CR, pinned E.J. Custer, 3:49.
Records: Chestnut Ridge 13-1; Berlin 5-1.

Analysis: Chestnut Ridge coach Greg Lazor gave me some great comments about this match for my story in The Tribune-Democrat, including one about how if you weren't there for the dual it looks like a blowout, but that it actually consisted of a lot of tight matches.
It was a fantastic atmosphere for a high school match. I've never seen more fans for a dual meet at Berlin. I've been told that the gym holds 600 and that it was at or near capacity. There certainly weren't any empty seats to be found. People were standing or sitting along the walls to watch the action.

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Chestnut Ridge's Jerimiah Zimmerman was able to rally for
a 4-3 victory over Eric Darr at 145 pounds.

It got plenty of media coverage as well. I did a live chat for it that attracted a couple of dozen participants despite the fact that I didn't decide to do it until Thursday afternoon. In addition to my story, you can find Jeff Mauer's for the Daily American here. Ryan Spring of the Bedford Gazette covered it as well. Although I don't think you can read his article online without a subscription, he did shoot video of the 195- and 220-pound bouts. And WJAC's Matt Maisel was there to get some video highlights.
Despite the lopsided final, the dual was definitely worth the price of admission, with some thrilling bouts.
Trent Crouse rallied from a 5-0 deficit and outscored Chris Miller 9-2 in the third period for an 11-7 victory. Jerimiah Zimmerman added another rally, turning a 2-0 deficit into a 4-3 victory with another strong third.
Chestnut Ridge seemed to be in better shape as a whole, which Crouse credited to "Coach McGill's monkey rolls."
Berlin needed some breaks to have a chance to beat Ridge, which is second in the state, according to Off the Mat rankings. I thought they got one early in starting at 132, which gave them a chance to get the early momentum, but Crouse erased any hope of that. They also got the other thing that I thought was crucial to a victory - a pin from Blake Miller at 152 - but Ridge simply won all of the closes matches.
The Mountaineers did have some bad breaks - a takedown that was waved off in the second period of Braden Fochtman's 16-3 victory over Colby Hillegass turned out to be the difference between a technical fall and a major, and there were a number of close calls that didn't go their way - but the simple fact is Chestnut Ridge created a lot of their own chances. Dan Albright's continuous forward momentum on his feet earned him a stalling point with 1.4 seconds left in overtime with Mitchell Walker at 220 pounds. Albright wasn't really taking any shots, but Walker went backward for most of the match.
Meanwhile, when Ridge gave up a late stalling point in the closing seconds at 195, they found a way to overcome it. Kyle Winegardner was hit for stalling late against Stew Trulick, but immediately capitalized on a bad shot for the winning takedown with 1.2 seconds remaining.
I was impressed by Blake Dunlap's 8-2 victory over Tommy DeArmitt at 113 and Derrick Claar's pin of E.J. Custer at 126. Claar was up 8-0 at the time.
Plain and simple, it was Chestnut Ridge's night, which is something that we'll be saying a lot this year, because the Lions are loaded.

Bedford 57, North Star 19126-Ryan Easter, B, pinned Colton Gennett, 2:34.
132-Garrett Thomas, B, forfeit.
138-Toby Brett, B, pinned Tevin Mostoller, :37.
145-Cory Fritch, NS, dec. Kenny Collins, 7-3.
152-Jonathan Thomas, NS, pinned Ty Zimmerman, 5:58.
160-Tanner Williams, B, pinned Joe Berkebile, 1:46.
170-Caleb Grimes, B, pinned Thomas Miller, 3:47.
182-Michael Brett, B, pinned Zach Maluchik, 1:12.
195-Kevin Horner, NS, pinned Daryl Stiffler, 1:42.
220-Chance Williams, B, dec. Levi Albright, 4-3 (UTB).
285-Justin Easter, B, pinned Brady Vinisky, :44.
106-Jonathan Gabriel, B, forfeit.
113-Brandon Martin, B, forfeit.
120-Tate Mostoller, NS, maj. dec. Jake Warern, 12-0.
Records: Bedford 11-2; North Star 6-5.

Odoyel says:

138-Impressive win for Brett

220-This result surprised me.
285-Easter picks up his 2nd win this week filling in for Nate Shoemaker
106-North Star's missed the match
120-North Star's most impressive win of the night.

Forest Hills 42, Conemaugh Township 25195-Billy Kovalcik, FH, maj. dec. Stephen Meyers, 12-1.
220-Zach Svencer, CT, dec. Jarrett Cowen, 7-2.
285-Matt Marra, FH, dec. Robbie Mills, 3-2.
106-Tanner McCall, FH, pinned Aaron Griffith, 1:54.
113-Jake Keiper, FH, tech fall Tyler Albright, 15-0 (4:15).
120-Tristen Law, FH, forfeit.
126-Kody Ofsanko, CT, dec. Josh Gould, 16-5.
132-Ian Gropp, FH, dec. Matt Bridge, 3-1 (OT).
138-Travis Templeton, FH, maj. dec. Casey Berchick, 10-0.
145-Tanner Cahill, CT, pinned Kris Knotts, 1:55.
152-Ryan Grosik, CT, pinned Ian Shugars, :59.
160-Taylor Cahill, CT, pinned Jacob Colbert, 1:08.
170-Cody Law, FH, tech. fall Ryan Shifflett, 16-1 (3:07).
182-Zack Pinkas, FH, pinned Andrew Gowarty, 5:53.
Records: Forest Hills 5-4; Conemaugh Township 3-4.

Odoyel says:
285-Mills has an impressive win over Mountan of United, but losses like this hurt him.
120-Law returns after not wrestling Tuesday against Bedford.
126-I wish that CT would have kept Ofsanko at 120 instead of bumping him up a weight.
 Central Cambria 39, Greater Johnstown 33
138-Kevin Bednar, CC, forfeit.
145-Gabe Seymour, CC, pinned William Gomez, 3:04.
152-Tyler Karlinsey, CC, pinned Austin Freeman, 2:50.
160-Jesiah Wilson, GJ, pinned Luke Kozorosky, 5:02.
170-Richard White, GJ, pinned Devin Bowser, 2:30.
182-Bailey Piscatello, GJ, dec. Tyler Wirfel, 11-5.
195-Nate Litvin, GJ, pinned Calvin Crow, 4:53.
220-John Branick, CC, dec. Giovanni Feliciano, 1-0.
285-Noah Eckenrod, GJ, forfeit.
106-Ian Ostrosky, CC, forfeit.
113-Cory Lazration, CC, forfeit.
120-No match.
126-Brad Taylor, CC, forfeit.
132-Rodney Hall, GJ, pinned Colton Makin, 5:03.
Records: Central Cambria 6-10; Greater Johnstown 0-7.

 Westmont Hilltop 40, United 30106–Drake Dorian, WH, forfeit.
113–Dan Yost, WH, forfeit.
120–Devon Gilbert, WH, forfeit.
126–Logan Blackburn, WH, maj. dec. Warren Lowther, 12-2.
132-Stephen Zipf, WH, pinned Devon Walker, 1:28.
138–Mark Barbera, WH, dec. Grant Ingalls, 6-5.
145-Tyler Mack, U, pinned Kyle Geibig, :37.
152–Mike Walsh, WH, pinned Brent Mack, 1:53.
160-Anthony Michaels, U, pinned Riley Schropp, 5:03.
170–Miles Stahl, U, dec. Colin Barron, 11-5.
182-Charles Hropovich, U, pinned Cameron Rock, :41.
195–Tyler Oliver, U, pinned Drake Leech, :15.
220-Don Shovestull, WH, dec. Andrew Deitman 7-2.
285–Benjamin Mountan, U, dec. Christian Roman, 5-1.
Records: Westmont Hilltop 6-1; United 3-9.

 Meyersdale 70, Shade 12106-Trevor Thomas, M, pinned Blake Sheehan, :47.
113-Billy Charlton, M, forfeit.
120-Brady McKenzie, M, forfeit.
126-Collin Day, M, pinned David Dietz, 3:00.
132-Tanner Hetrick, M, pinned Collin Jarosyk, 1;00.
138-Hunter Lantz, M, pinned Mike Manges, 5:05.
145-Seth Deist, M, fofeit.
152-David Stanton III, M, pinned Matthew Naylor, 4:42.
160-Austin Imler, M, forfeit.
170-Timothy Hines, M, forfeit.
182-Billy Charlton, M, forfeit.
195-Gavin Berkley, M, forfeit.
220-Trevor Brown, S, forfeit.
285-Cody Edwards, S, forfeit.
Records: Meyersdale 13-2; Shade 0-6.

Other
Here's a link to the Altoona Mirror's wrestling roundup, which includes D5 and D6 matches outside of my coverage area, such as Central-Everett, Mount Union-Tyrone and Penns Valley-Bellwood-Antis.