The Tyrone wrestling team ran into a couple of tough wrestling squads in the PIAA Team Duals Tournament on Friday.
After dropping a 53-6 decision earlier to Northwestern Lehigh, the Golden Eagles wrestled Danville in a first-round consolation battle.
Tyrone started well and ended even better, but dropped seven weight classes in a row, all by pin, after David Miller opened the dual with a solid 9-3 victory at 135. Danville, the District IV champions of long-time coach Ron Kanaskie, put it to the Eagles 43-27 to send Tyrone home early. Danville (25-6), which finished a win short of the third-place consolation final also sent District VI second place Forest Hills packing in the match following their defeat of Tyrone, defeating the Rangers by a point 34-33, before losing to Mount Pleasant 37-28 and dropping out of the tournament..
As he has so often over the last four years, Terry Tate got the Eagles back on track with a forfeit at heavyweight. Tyrone would finish with five victories in the final six weights, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the 40-3 deficit they faced when Tate (33-0) stepped out on the mat to have his hand raised.
Miller (33-4) registered a pair of takedowns for a 4-1 opening-period advantage over Kyle Stump (23-7), then added an escape and takedown in the middle period and a third-period takedown for the Eagles first lead of the tournament.
Turning the lineup over to the lightweights following Tate’s easy six, Anthony Romano (12-8) gave Tyrone their second straight win. The Tyrone 103-pound freshman trailed Jess Gronsky (15-13) 2-0 after the first period, but came on strong with a reversal and four-point nearfall in the second period, then cemented the win with three more back points in the final stanza.
T. J. Albright made it three in a row for the Orange and Black, by decking Malakye Wilson (12-14) in the waning seconds of the first period, at 112. Albright (28-6) led just 2-0 before getting the pin in 1:56.
Shayne Tate and Josh Hunter gave the Eagles their two final wins closing out the dual. Shayne Tate (7-22) gave up the first points to Cory Knecht (15-15), but escaped to trail 2-1 after one period and added an escape, takedown of his own and back points before getting the fall in 3:20, at 125. Hunter (13-21) picked up a first-period takedown and second-period reversal for a 4-0 lead over Cory Bergenstock (4-9). Hunter opened the third period with a takedown and then traded reversals to pick up the 8-2 triumph.
At 119, Robert Waite (21-6) and Nathan Gerst (23-6) were tied 2-2 after the opening two minutes, when Gerst escaped, took Waite down and picked up three back points. Waite reversed Gerst to cut the deficit to 8-4 in the third period, but wasn’t able to get any closer.
At 140, Sam McCloskey (13-18) dropped a 12-1 major decision to Brandon Earlston (29-1), Jacob Smerekar (16-14) was pinned by Eric Smith (30-0) at 145, Justin Schopp (14-17) was pinned by Mike Hunter (17-6) at 152, Matt Lauder (2-7) was decked by Adam Siats (22-9) at 160, Heath Walk (22-7) back after a knee injury, was pinned by Kyle Ale (25-6) at 171, James Updike (7-15) was pinned by Joel Hummer (25-6) at 189, and Donnie Conrad (9-15) was pinned at 215, by Dwayne Winnie (17-15) as the Danville Ironmen dominated the middle and upper portion of the lineup with seven straight pins to take control of the match.
Tyrone (16-4) will now prepare for the Eastern Sectional which will begin on Friday, Feb. 18 at 4 p.m., at Tyrone, and continue through Saturday. The top five at each weight will advance to the District VI-AA Tournament the following weekend, also at Tyrone.
Danville 43 Tyrone 27
135 – David Miller (T) dec. Kyle Stump 9-3
140 – Brandon Earlston (D) maj. dec. Sam McCloskey 12-1
145 – Eric Smith (D) pinned Jacob Smerekar 3:42
152 – Mike Hunter (D) pinned Justin Schopp 4:59
160 – Adam Siats (D) pinned Matt Lauder 1:16
171 – Kyle Ale (D) pinned Heath Walk 4:42
189 – Joel Hummer (D) pinned James Updike 3:33
215 – Dwayne Winnie (D) pinned Donnie Conrad 2:37
275 – Terry Tate (T) won by forfeit
103 Anthony Romano (T) dec. Jesse Gronsky 9-2
112 – T. J. Albright (T) pinned Malakye Wilson 1:56
119 – Nathan Gerst (D) dec. Robert Waite 8-4
125 – Shayne Tate (T) pinned Cory Knecht 3:20
130 – Josh Hunter (T) dec. Cory Bergenstock 8-2.
