Five straight pins and a forfeit in the later portion of the match at home against West Branch paved the way for the Tyrone Golden Eagles to even their record at 3-3 on Wednesday night with a 45-22 victory.
Down 19-9 following the 145-pound match, the Tyrone wrestlers turned it up a notch to jump into a 39-19 advantage before West Branch was able to stop the streaking Eagles.
Wrestling for the second night in a row, after knocking off Bellwood-Antis 54-17 on Tuesday night, Tyrone began the string of victories slowly with Jacob Smerekar (10-4) accepting a forfeit at 152. Then, Shayne Tate (10-6) jumped out in front of Dan Dreibelbis with a takedown and nearfall at 160, before pinning him in 1:39.
At 171 and 189, Justin Schopp and Donnie Conrad pinned their West Branch foes in identical times to continue the pin parade. Schopp (11-5) pinned Doug May at 171 in 0:34, and then Conrad (9-5) decked Tyler Bell in the same exact time, 0:34.
Brady Williams (5-5) evened his season record by pinning Glenn Lindberg with eight seconds remaining in the first period, at 215. Williams opened the scoring with a takedown, then traded reversals with Lindberg, before showing the Warrior 215-pounder the lights in 1:52.
West Branch 112-pounder Shane Pewanick began the dual with a 9-3 win over Donnie Hunter (2-8) for the early 3-0 lead.
At 119, Tyrone sophomore Tyler Poorman (4-8) stopped a personal two-match losing streak with four late points for a 6-2 win over Tyler English. Poorman scored the first takedown for the only scoring in the first two periods, but English reversed Poorman to begin the third period. Poorman worked a reversal of his own and added two back points to secure the victory.
T. J. Albright put the Golden Eagles in the lead for the first time when he pinned Matt Willis in 5:07 at 125. Albright (11-5, with seven wins in his last eight matches) dominated Willis leading 9-0 at the time of the fall, with a first period takedown, middle stanza takedown and three-point nearfall and third period reversal.
West Branch used the strength of their lineup then to register four straight wins, to jump back into a 10-point advantage 19-9 after the 145-pound match.
Amos Albright used a first period takedown for the difference in a 4-2 decision over Anthony Romano (2-7) at 130. Then at 135, Aaron Albright (the West Branch Albrights are not related to Tyrone senior T. J. Albright) scored a takedown in the first period and then traded escapes with Josh Miller (5-8) for a 3-1 win. Jon Demchak used three takedowns and a three-point nearfall to gain a 9-1 major decision over J. P. VanAllman (4-7). Finally, at 145, Jeremy Kanouff jumped out to a 7-1 lead over John Markel (1-1), before recording a third-period fall.
West Branch heavyweight Bradley Michaels was able to finally halt the Golden Eagles’ party after Williams win at 215, but it was too little, too late. Michaels escaped to begin the second period, after neither Michaels, nor Tyrone 285-pounder Dustin Weaver was able to score in the opening two-minute period. Michaels then added another escape and a takedown in the third period for a 4-0 triumph.
Tyrone freshman A. J. Schopp (16-1) closed out the dual meet with a forfeit win to set the score at 45-22. The forfeit is Schopp’s second straight and his 14th straight win.
The Eagles (3-3) have a tough week ahead of them, with away matches at Huntingdon on Tuesday and Hollidaysburg on Thursday. Both teams finished ahead of Tyrone in the Zeigler Blair/Huntingdon Counties Tournament two weeks ago. Huntingdon came from behind to pass Mount Union for the team title, 300-275, while Hollidaysburg finished one spot in front of the fourth-place Golden Eagles with 218 points to Tyrone’s 212.
Tyrone 45 West Branch 22
112 – Shane Pewanick (WB) dec. Donnie Hunter 9-3
119 – Tyler Poorman (T) dec. Tyler English 6-2
125 – T. J. Albright (T) pinned Matt Willis 5:07
130 – Amos Albright (WB) dec. Anthony Romano 4-2
135 – Aaron Albright (WB) dec. Josh Miller 3-1
140 – Jon Demchak (WB) maj. J. P. VanAllman 9-1
145 – Jeremy Kanouff (WB) pinned John Markel
152 – Jacob Smerekar (T) won by forfeit
160 – Shayne Tate (T) pinned Dan Dreibelbis 1:39
171 – Justin Schopp (T) pinned Doug May 0;34
189 – Dan Conrad (T) pinned Tyler Bell 0:34
215 – Brady Williams (T) pinned Glenn Lindberg 1:52
285 – Brad Michaels (WB) dec. Dustin Weaver 4-0
103 – A. J. Schopp (T) won by forfeit.
