One point was all the Tyrone wrestlers needed to score, or perhaps needed to keep from allowing host Hollidaysburg to score. In the end, the Golden Eagles dropped a tight 37-36 decision to Hollidaysburg, at the Hollidaysburg Junior High School on Thursday evening.
There were any number of situations that could have been the turning point or points.
With the match tied at 12-12, Hollidaysburg 112-pounder Stefan Housum was leading Tyrone junior Donnie Hunter 16-5, with the match just about over. Hunter (4-12) was able to fight off his back for the last portion of the third period, but Housum finally was able to get Hunter’s shoulders to the mat with just nine seconds left for the fall and two extra bonus points.
James McKibben picked up an additional bonus point at 119, when he turned Tyler Poorman in the third period to get a 17-1 tech fall, instead of a major decision. To Tyrone’s advantage, Poorman (5-14) fought off his back for much of the final period, without getting pinned to save the Eagles an additional bonus point. McKibben had pinned Poorman at the Zeigler Tournament in just 0:19. At 140, Brett Shoenfelt needed a last-period three-point nearfall to notch a 9-1 major decision over Josh Miller (5-9), earning another bonus point.
Hollidaysburg was able to keep the damage to a minimum late in the dual, in back-to-back one-point losses at 152, and 160.
At 152, Eagle senior Jacob Smerekar (14-7) trailed Ryan Colmer 2-0 after the first two periods, before escaping and getting a takedown in the final two minutes to post a hard-earned 3-2 win. Smerekar also edged Colmer 10-8, at the Zeigler Tournament. Then at 160, Shayne Tate had a takedown and Zach Fradeneck had two escapes for a 2-2 tie going into the third period. Beginning on the bottom, Tate reversed Fradeneck, who then escaped, but couldn’t score any additional points with Tate (13-10) pulling out the slim 4-3 win.
The dual began at the 189 weight class, with Donnie Conrad pinning Shaun Flaugh, who moved up a weight after weighing in at 171. Conrad (14-7) led just 4-3 after one period, but when Flaugh chose the bottom position to begin the second period, Conrad worked for the pin in 2:25.
Hollidaysburg jumped into a 12-6 lead with pins at the next two weights.
Jacob Walls pinned Dustin Weaver (1-13) in 2:22 at 215, while leading 5-0 on a first period takedown and nearfall. Then at 285, Tiger 215-pounder Brad Riggleman moved up a weight class to pin Tyrone senior Brandon Oswalt (0-4) at the 1:44 mark. Riggleman’s father Dave Riggleman wrestled and graduated from Tyrone.
At 103, Tyrone freshman A. J. Schopp (23-1) repeated a Zeigler Tournament win over Steve Stiffler. Schopp was all over Stiffler, recording two takedowns and two sets of nearfalls before decking him in 1:44. At the Zeigler tourney, Schopp had taken 3:09 to pin Stiffler.
Staying hot, T. J. Albright recorded his ninth straight pin, at 125, by showing Yu-King Wang the lights in 1:10. Albright (18-5) has won 11 consecutive matches, and 14 of his last 15, after a slow start after running into some extremely tough competition earlier in the season. Anthony Romano (7-9) kept the pressure on Hollidaysburg with his fifth win in the last six duals by pinning Derek Heisler in 1:10. Romano’s fall gave Tyrone a 24-23 team lead.
The Golden Tigers took the lead back with wins in the next three weight classes however getting bonus points in each with a fall by Stuart Rhodes over Cody Weaver (7-8) at 135, and major decisions by Shoenfelt 9-1 over Miller at 140, and Nate Mills 18-6 over Jeremy Barlett (3-16) at 145.
Tyrone won the final two weights, but with Smerekar and Tate winning regular decisions, the best the Eagles could do was to come within one point after the final match at 171.
Justin Schopp (15-8) got the pin over Nick Stiffler, finishing in a hurry, earning the fall in 0:32, but it was too little, too late for the Eagles, who drop to 5-8 on the season.
The Eagle wrestle today and Saturday at Bedford in the Thomas Chevrolet Tournament.
Hollidaysburg 37 Tyrone 36
189 – Donnie Conrad (T) pinned Shaun Flaugh 2:25
215 – Jacob Walls (H) pinned Dustin Weaver 2:22
285 – Brad Riggleman (H) pinned Brandon Oswalt 1:08
103 – A. J. Schopp (T) pin Steve Shiffler 1:44
112 – Stefan Housam (H) pinned Donnie Hunter 5:51
119 – James McKibben (H) tech fall Tyler Poorman 17-1
125 – T. J. Albright (T) pinned Yu-King Wang 2:20
130 – Anthony Romano (T) pinned Derek Heisler 1:10
135 – Stuart Rhodes (H) pinned Cody Weaver 3:51
140 – Brett Shoenfelt (H) maj. Josh Miller 9-1
145 – Nate Mills (H) maj. Jeremy Barlett 18-6
152 – Jacob Smerekar (T) dec. Ryan Colmer 3-2
160 – Shayne Tate (T) dec. Zachary Fradeneck 4-3
171 – Justin Schopp (T) pinned Michael Stiffler 0:32.
