Coming from behind in the consolation and championship finals, the Tyrone junior high Little Eagles wrestling team blazed to the championship of the annual Blue Devil Invitational at Bellwood on Saturday.
Behind beginning the finals, Tyrone got championship efforts from Mark McMonagle (85), Tyler Osterhout (90), Ronnie Garbinsky (100) and Robbie Sellers (110), second place medals from Issac Walk (130), Jeremy Miller (138) and Cody Smith (155) and third place finished from Dylan Weston (80), Christian Getz (95) Zac Knable (145), Ridge Colyer (210) and Kirby Lawrence (250) to motor past Forest Hills 245.5-241.
Forest Hills, with the lead and 10 finalists, and a big lead and seemed to be the favorite going into the finals, but the Little Eagles bumped the Rangers to the rear, winning three of four head-to-head finals to secure the team victory.
Tyrone and Forest Hills have been trading the title back and forth since 2003. Forest Hills claimed titles in 2003, 2004 and 2006, and was second in 2005, while Tyrone won championships in 2005 and this year. Tyrone won the tournament in 2001 and was second to Curwensville in 2000, second to Southern Huntingdon in 2002, as well as placing second to Forest Hills in 2003, 2004 and 2006.
With eight finalists, Tyrone began the championship finals with Mark McMonagle decisioning Jeff Erwin of Southern Huntingdon, 7-0 and then pinning Glendale’s top seeded Brett Sweitzer in 3:41 in the finals at 80 pounds. At 85, Tyler Osterhout turned loss by major decision, into a win by fall in the last 13 seconds of his finals match against top seed Nathan Smeal of Moshannon Valley, to light the fire for the Eagles.
“That kid technical falled Mark McMonagle last year, now Mark goes out and gets a big win to start the finals off,” said Tyrone coach Jason Bainey. “Then Tyler Osterhout, is losing 9-0 with about 13 seconds to go and reverses and pins his kid. Those two wins got the team fired up and we went on a roll from there.”
Osterhout pinned his way through the tournament. The second seed, Tyler pinned Jared Grove from Huntingdon, in 1:20 and then Cody Hudish of West Branch, in 1:55 to reach the finals.
At 100, Ronnie Garbinsky decisioned Curwensville’s Bucky Adams 4-1 and then doubled up Chris Gallaher of Forest Hills, 12-6 in the finals in the first of three straight weight classes in which the Eagles claimed championships. Chase Weaver, the top seed at 105, pinned Zach Romano of Huntingdon, in 4:20 and Ethan Slippey of West Branch, in 4:15 to get to the finals, where he edged Bill Wolfhope of Forest Hills 4-3. Finally, Robbie Sellers, also a top seed, didn’t allow a point on his way to the title at 110. Robbie decisioned Cantin Gillen of Huntingdon, 1-0, and Majored Lincoln Stehley of Bellwood-Antis, 13-0, before shutting out Tyler Shaffer of Forest Hills, 7-0 in the finals.
Issac Walk edged Forest Hills’ Mitch Brewer 6-5 and top seed Codi McClellan of Glendale, 8-2. In the finals at 130, Walk fell to Dylan Corl of West Branch 9-4. At 138, top seed Jeremy Miller pinned Chance Myers of West Branch, in 1:13 and doubled up Jeff Meier of Forest Hills, 8-4. In the finals, Miller dropped an 8-3 decision to Bellwood-Antis’ lone champ, Tyler Beech.
At 80, Dylan Weston lost 6-0 to eventual champ Kie Brown of Huntingdon, then came back to win third place by beating Troy Boutiller of Bellwood-Antis, 10-3, and edged Roy Evans of West Branch 3-2. At 95, Christian Getz dropped a 5-1 decision to Brock Gallaher of Forest Hills, but came back with wins over Luke McFarland of B-A, 4-0 and Ryan Miles of West Branch, by a 14-0 major decision. Jim Weston majored Moshannon Valley’s Dylan Ludwig 10-1, but was pinned in 0:54 by Adam Albright of West Branch. Weston then pinned Travis Glass of Glendale, in 2:15 and shut out Ludwig again, this time 6-0 for third place at 115.
At 145, Zac Knable was pinned by Josh Yaworski of Glendale, in 2:01, but came back to place third with a pin in 0:26 over Mo Valley’s Brandon Knee, a 4-3 win over Jonathan Confer of West Branch, and a 5-3 decision over Curwensville’s Kyle Kylor. Ridge Colyer lost his first match 4-1 to Dan Crowell of Forest Hills, then edged Gerald Price of Bellwood-Antis, 6-5, at 210. In the final weight class, Kirby Lawrence defeated Denton Best of Curwensville, 10-3, before falling to eventual 250-pound champ Nick Shope of Huntingdon, 5-2. In the consolation bracket, Lawrence pinned his way to third place, decking Travis Lyons of Bellwood-Antis, in 1:15, and beat Best again, this time by fall in 2:08.
“This was a total team effort,” said Bainey. “Our 210 and 250 pounders have been having struggling all year. We have been encouraging them to work, work, work. Today for us to win they both had to win their third-place matches. They both win to get third place and we won the tournament.”
Bellwood-Antis, which finished half a point behind Glendale in fifth place, the best finish for the Blue Devils as a team in years, with 149 points, had a champion in Tyler Beech (138), one second place by Travis Taylor (145), third places by Dan Noye (100) and Buddy Shaw (122), and fourth place medals by Trevor Helsley (90), Lincoln Stehley (110), Nic Cover (155) and Gerald Price (210).
Beech, the second seed, pinned Michael Ohler of Moshannon Valley, in 0:12, which tied for the fastest fall of the tournament, pinned Brandon Bickford of Glendale, in 3:49 and downed Jeremy Miller of Tyrone, 8-3 in the finals.
Travis Taylor, top seeded, decisioned Jonathan Confer of West Branch, 8-5, but was pinned by Forest Hills’ Dillon Hoffman in 0:58 in the finals.
At 105, Danny Noye pinned Alex Harry of Southern Huntingdon, in 2:06, but lost a 5-3 decision to Bill Wolfhope of Forest Hills, on a late takedown and nearfall. In the consolations, Noye majored Zach Romano of Huntingdon, 12-0 and pinned Ethan Slippey of West Branch, in 1:21. Buddy Shaw dropped his opening match 10-6 to Dylan Guttshall of Huntingdon, then defeated Doug Rudy of Tyrone, 2-0, and top seed Dustin Shaffer of Glendale, 5-3.
At 90 pounds, Trevor Helsley shut out Jared Vivian of Forest Hills, 6-0, before getting pinned by top seed Nathan Smeal of Moshannon Valley, in 0:58. Then in the consolation bracket, Trevor decisioned Jared Grove of Huntingdon, 3-0, but was pinned by Cody Hudish of West Branch, in 1:10. Lincoln Stehley pinned Southern Huntingdon’s Hunter Waite in 1:08, but was majored 13-0 by eventual champ Robbie Sellers of Tyrone. Stehley pinned Robert Fry of Glendale, but dropped a 7-5 decision to Cantin Gillen of Huntingdon, in the third-place final. At 155, Nic Cover, the top seed shut out Creston Jenkins of Southern Huntingdon, 7-0, but was edged by Tyrone’s Cody Smith 5-4. In the consolations, Cover shut out Cory Stuller of Huntingdon, 6-0, and was downed 4-2 by second seed Brandon Speigle of West Branch. Gerald Price was pinned by eventual 210-pound champ Scott Burger of Huntingdon, in 1:14, and edged 5-4 by Ridge Colyer of Tyrone.
“This was a good experience for our kids to get ready three tough matches next week and the Tri-County Tournament,” said Bellwood-Antis coach Tim Andrekovich. “There was good competition, like I expected, and our kids got mat time. That’s what we need.”
Doug Rudy (122) was 1-2 on Saturday and Chris Carper (165) and Rick Smith (185) were both 0-2 for the Little Eagles.
Adam Davinsizer (100), Jeremy Isenberg (115), Christian Solecki (130) and Trey Campbell (165) were all 1-2 for the Blue Devil junior high, and Troy Boutiller (80), Zach Rutherford (85), Luke McFarland (95), Eric Miller (210) and Travis Lyons (250) went 0-2.
