Wednesday night was one time when the Tyrone Golden Eagles absolutely knew ahead of time that the dual meet was theirs, no matter what the West Branch Warriors did. With West Branch, coached by Tyrone grad Gary Miller, who is back for his second stint as head coach of the Warriors, was able to put just six wrestlers on the mat.
Knowing that your team is going to receive 48 forfeit points, is not the greatest way to get your wrestlers who are going to wrestle up for the dual, and Blair Packer had that thought going through his mind on the way to the match.
“I didn’t really know what to tell the kids who were going to wrestle,” said Packer, whose Eagles (9-1) won their ninth straight match 57-15. “It’s tough to get up for a match like this knowing your are going to get all those forfeits. It’s not pretty, but you can’t take it away from West Branch. The kids they did put on the mat were representatives of good drilling and hard work in practice and they wrestled well.”
The dual meet began at the 152-pound weight class and Tyrone opened up a quick 24-0 advantage with four forfeits in the first four weight classes. Shayne Tate (11-6), Justin Schopp (11-7), James Updike (10-7) and Heath Walk (4-2) picked up easy wins.
At 215, Tim J. Smeal gave West Branch their first win holding a takedown clinic against Eagle junior Donnie Conrad. Smeal totaled six takedowns and gave up five escapes in a solid 12-5 win. After yielding three third-period takedowns to Smeal, Conrad (8-8) saved the Eagles a team point by preventing another at the end of the match.
After heavyweight Brandon Oswalt (6-9) picked up a forfeit, the Warriors’ 103-pounder Shawn Pewanick used takedowns in the first and second periods for a 4-0 win over Cody Weaver (13-5).
T. J. Albright (11-1) and Robert Waite (19-3) received forfeits at 112 and 119 for Tyrone.
At 125, Tyrone sophomore Anthony Romano built up a 7-3 lead over the Warriors’ Amos Albright after two periods. Albright attempted a comeback, scoring two takedowns and allowed Romano to escape for an attempt to score again, but Romano (11-8) hung on for a 9-7 win.
West Branch picked up wins at both 130 and 135, with undefeated Donny Clark, who has been ripping everybody up on the mat, showing Josh Hunter (3-7) the lights in just 1:22, and Jon Demchak using a second-period takedown as the difference in a 6-5 triumph over J. P. VanAllman. Demchak scored first, taking VanAllman (8-9) down to begin the match and the Tyrone sophomore reversing to tie the score. VanAllman escaped to start the second stanza, and Demchak took the Tyrone grappler down. In the final two minutes, the two wrestlers traded reversals for the one-point win for the Warriors’ Demchak.
Jacob Smerekar (3-0) won for the third straight time, pinning Tim R. Smeal in 2:47. Tied at 2-2 after one period, Smerekar hit Smeal with a five-point move, taking him down and recording three back points, then turned him again for the fall soon after.
Sam McCloskey (14-4) ended the dual the same way it started, with a forfeit win to stretch the final score to 57-15.
Tyrone will wrestle at Huntingdon on Tuesday, while West Branch will be back in action again on Saturday with a double dual meet against Bellwood-Antis and Penns Valley with the junior high teams kicking off the action at 11 a.m.
Junior High
Tyrone (4-1) shook off their first dual loss to Mount Union last week and with the help of five forfeits, five pins and a technical fall slammed West Branch 65-27.
After each school recorded a pin at the first two weight classes, Tyrone won seven straight, all six-point wins to fashion a 48-6 lead that iced the win for the Little Eagles.
Cody Smith (165), Brian Diehl (210), A. J. Schopp (90), Issac Walk (110), and Jeremy Miller (115) won by fall, Tyler Osterhout (75), Mark McMonigle (80), Chase Weaver (85), Ronnie Garbinsky (95) and Robby Sellers (100) won by forfeit. Josh Graham won a 16-1 tech fall at 155, in 4:12.
Tyrone 57 West Branch 15
152 – Shayne Tate (T) won by forfeit
160 – Justin Schopp (T) won by forfeit
171 – James Updike (T) won by forfeit
189 – Heath Walk (T) won by forfeit
215 – Tim J. Smeal (WB) dec. Donnie Conrad 12-5
275 – Brandon Oswalt (WB) won by forfeit
103 – Shane Penawick (WB) dec. Cody Weaver 4-0
112 – T. J. Albright (WB) won by forfeit
119 – Robert Waite (T) won by forfeit
125 – Anthony Romano (T) dec. Amos Albright 9-7
130 – Donny Clark (WB) pinned Josh Hunter 1:22
135 – Jon Demchak (WB) dec. J. P. VanAllman 6-5
140 – Jacob Smerekar (T) pinned Tim R. Smeal 2:47
145 – Sam McCloskey (T) won by forfeit
Junior High
Tyrone 65 West Branch 27
165 – Cody Smith (T) pinned Ryan Dixon 0:17
185 – Doug May (WB) pinned Devon Miller 3:54
210 – Brian Diehl (T) pinned Derek Ellis 1:26
250 – No match
75 – Tyler Osterhout (T) won by forfeit
80 – Mark McMonigle (T) won by forfeit
85 – Chase Weaver (T) won by forfeit
90 – A. J. Schopp (T) pinned Corey Hudish 1:18
95 – Ronnie Garbinsky (T) won by forfeit
100 – Robby Sellers (T) won by forfeit
105 – Adam Albright (WB) dec. Jimmy Weston 6-0
110 – Issac Walk (T) pinned Dylan Corl 0:53
115 – Jeremy Miller (T) pinned J. T. Confer 3:55
122 – Aaron Albright (WB) dec. Josh Miller 7-0
130 – Jeremy Kanouff (WB) pinned Jeremy Barlett 2:25
138 – Brandon Speigle (WB) pinned Kris Decker 2:30
145 – Trevor Yeager (WB) dec. Jordan Berry 5-0
155 – Josh Graham (T) tech fall Dan Dreibelbis 16-1, 4:12.
