The Tyrone and Bellwood-Antis wrestling teams were each engaged in a strange double dual on Saturday.
The two local schools met on the Tyrone mats at 9 a.m., with the junior high and varsity wrestling on separate mats at the same time. Then Bald Eagle Area came in to wrestle the Eagles at Tyrone with the junior high going at 11 a.m.
Bellwood-Antis went back to Bellwood following the Tyrone dual to host a dual meet with Portage. The junior high wrestled at 1 p.m. and the varsity followed at 2 p.m.
Following the conclusion of the junior high match with BEA, Tyrone honored their senior wrestlers, Dane McCloskey, Thad Westley and Justin Clark in a “Senior Recognition Ceremony.”
Then prior to the beginning of the varsity match with Bald Eagle Area, three gentleman with Tyrone ties were inducted into the Tyrone Wrestling Hall of Fame. In ceremonies led by Tyrone Wrestling Hall of Fame committee member Pete Dutrow acting as master of ceremonies. Mark Westley, James Mohney and Clay Fink were inducted into the Tyrone Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Former Tyrone coach James “Jim” Mohney and Eagle wrestler Clay Fink are the 2004 inductees. Mohney coached Tyrone from 1951-1959 with a 44-54-2 record. Mohney coached six district champs, five regional winners and two state champions.
Fink was PIAA state runner-up in 1974, becoming the Eagles’ seventh state runner-up. Clay is the only Tyrone wrestler to go undefeated for three straight dual meet seasons.
Westley was a surprise recipient of the honor. Mark as chairman of the Hall of Fame committee was pushing for three inductees this year, but was told there was only finances for two plaques, with Dutrow and the committee acting in secret to catch Westley unaware. A district champion as a wrestler, Westley is District VI Historian in addition to his many other functions that he carries out for Tyrone and wrestling in general. Mark performs the many things he does for wrestling as a labor of love.
Tyrone 59 Bellwood-Antis 9
In the annual dual with Tyrone, Bellwood-Antis was able to put just seven wrestlers on the mat, and could claim just two wins in a 59-9 Tyrone win. The two schools are rivals in most other sports, sometimes bitter rivals, but in wrestling, Tyrone has won all 27 meetings between the two, often by huge margins.
This edition of the annual dual began at 145. Of six matches actually wrestled, four resulted in first-period falls and just two of the six went the full six minutes.
Blue Devil Ron Colyer (4-13) took Matt Lauder down and turned him for three back points in the first period, then added another takedown in the third after a scoreless middle period. Trailing 7-0, Lauder (1-24) reversed Colyer to his back and pinned him at the 5:10 mark for his first victory of the year, to get the Eagles off and running.
Bellwood forfeited to Brice Mertiff (13-5) at 152, and there was no match at 160, when neither team could put a wrestler on the mat.
At 171, B-A junior Dwayne Cherry (11-13) used a Peterson roll for a takedown and converted that into a headlock to pin Tyler Updike (0-5) in 1:02 to get the Blue Devils on the board and cut the Tyrone team lead in half to 12-6.
Justin Clark (8-18) and Robert Emigh (1-14) picked up forfeits at 189, and 215, and Terry Tate made short work of freshman Tyler Narehood at heavyweight, taking Narehood (11-12) down and pinning him in 1:27.
Going back to the top of the lineup at 103, T. J. Albright picked up a forfeit and Robert Waite (23-12) decked Brandon Beech in just 0:41.
At 119, the first of the two matches that lasted three full periods, Eli Colyer (16-7) scored a takedown to open the scoring then traded reversals with Eagle sophomore Josh Hunter for a 4-2 lead after one period. Hunter (9-17) took the down position to begin the middle period and Colyer turned him to his back for three nearfall points. Hunter picked up a penalty point and the two wrestlers again traded reversals to give Colyer a 9-5 lead. Hunter rode Colyer for the entire third period, turning him once for two back points, but the match ended with Colyer ahead. 9-7.
Tyrone then closed out the dual with a win by forfeit for Sam McCloskey at 125, a pin by Dane McCloskey over Dustin Harris at 130, and an 18-3 technical fall for Thad Westley over Josh Ervine at 135. There was no match at 140.
Bald Eagle 54 Tyrone 14
In the Bald Eagle Area-Tyrone matchup, the Bald Eagles pulled out to a 36-0 lead before the local Golden Eagles could get any points on the scoreboard. That fast start continued to build in a 54-14 win for BEA that dropped Tyrone to 11-5 and improved Bald Eagle Area to 17-3.
The battle of Eagles featured two matchups at 152, and 135, between four talented wrestlers all ranked prominently in the statewide Off The Mat rankings.
With the dual beginning at 145, the first matchup was between Tyrone junior Brice Mertiff and BEA’s Landis Wright. Mertiff was trailing Wright 5-0 in the third period, when Wright reversed Mertiff to his back and pinned him in 5:33. Wright opened the scoring with a first-period takedown, before adding a three-point nearfall for the only scoring of the second period.
The second premier matchup was between two former top-ranked wrestlers, Tyrone senior Thad Westley (29-4) and BEA senior Clint Shirk at 135. Shirk scored first on an inside trip for a takedown and a 2-1 lead after a Westley escape. In the second period, Shirk escaped and converted a single leg into a takedown for a 5-1 lead after two periods. Westley took the bottom position to begin the final period and Shirk threw in legs and preceded to ride Westley all period for the 5-1 win.
“I know people will be looking at records and saying ‘This could have been or that could have been,’” Tyrone coach Blair Packer said. “But that’s what I consider bigger fish to fry.” Packer has declared all season that “we wrestle all over the state to wrestle the best teams and the best wrestlers. That is part of our preparations for the postseason tournaments leading up to and including states. We are not going to duck anyone. We want the best competition we can get for our wrestlers. I think the Shirk kid Thad wrestled is the guy to beat in the state. I would have liked to have Thad give him a better match, but Shirk has shown he is highly capable of being the best in the state”
David Fisher got BEA off to their big start by pinning Matt Lauder in 1:40 to begin the dual at 145. After Wright’s win, Tyrone forfeited at 160, to Brock Bickle, and BEA made quick work of the bottom of the Tyrone lineup with three straight first-period pins.
With the team score tilted 36-0 on BEA’s side, Terry Tate (33-1), the number one ranked AA heavyweight in the state got hid teammates on the scoreboard with a much-harder fought than expected 6-2 win over Matt Corl. Corl even scored first, taking the Tyrone junior down in the early going of the first period. Tate escaped shortly afterward for a 2-1 deficit in the first stanza, escaped and worked Corl for a takedown in the middle period. Corl chose the neutral position with both wrestlers on their feet to begin the final period, and Tate took Corl down again for the tough decision and a 36-3 BEA lead.
T. J. Albright picked up a an all-important reversal and three back points for a 12-8 decision over Jake Shirk for the second straight Tyrone win. Albright and Shirk rolled each other all over the mat for most of the first two and a half periods before the Tyrone ninth grader insured his 30th win to go with nine losses. Albright opened the match with a five-point move before Shirk reversed for 5-2 margin at the end of one period. Albright chose neutral and notched a takedown to lead 7-2, but Shirk reversed Albright once in the second period and once more at the beginning of the third stanza to slice the lead to 7-6 before Albright hit a five point move off the reversal to gain the win despite another late reversal by the BEA wrestler.
BEA 112-pounder Shawn Switzer edged Robert Waite 5-4, and Bryon Clontz pinned Josh Hunter in the third period at 119, to stop the momentum. Switzer picked up one-point scoring advantages in both of the first two periods and held on for the win at 112. Clontz limited Hunter to one escape while recording takedowns in the first and final periods, plus a second-period reversal.
The Orange and Black came back with a decision and fall from the McCloskey brothers in the next two weight classes.
At 125, Sam McCloskey (17-13) doubled up Ryan MacNamara 8-4. MacNamara scored the only points of the opening period on a takedown and added a second period reversal before McCloskey got going. Down four points, Sam escaped and added a point on a technical violation to get out of the second period down 4-2. In a big third period, the Tyrone sophomore used an escape, takedown and three back points to win going away.
Dane McCloskey (27-6) gave up a first-period takedown to Mike Granite. McCloskey picked the bottom position to start the second period, reversed Granite to his back for three nearfall points then cranked him over again for the fall in 3:34.
“Let me tell you, Sam McCloskey is probably one of the most-improved kids on this team,” said Packer. “At the beginning of the season, he was questioning himself and getting his butt kicked by his brother. All of a sudden, he’s one of the guys we’re relying on.”
Portage 42 Bellwood-Antis 17
Back at Bellwood after getting hammered earlier, Bellwood-Antis fell to the Portage Mustang wrestling squad 42-17.
With the match beginning at 130, the Blue Devils jumped out to a 12-0 advantage on pins by Dustin Harris and Josh Ervine, but then had to forfeit four weights, including the next three in a row to cool off any momentum the fast start had developed.
After an exciting junior high match which B-A took seven of the last eight weights to edge Portage 45-42, Bellwood-Antis was able to win one more match to finish the regular season 2-13.
Harris (4-17) used a pair of takedowns and two back points for a 6-1 advantage after one period over Pat Hegeman. Hegeman reversed Harris to his back for a nearfall to draw into a 6-6 tie temporarily. Harris then used a reversal of his own to turn the Portage 130-pounder to his back for the fall in 3:40.
Ervine (17-6) built up a 7-0 lead in the first two periods with a takedown, reversal, nearfall and penalty point before turning John Baker from the top in the third period for the pin in 4:18.
B-A forfeited to Portage at 140, 152 and 160, with neither team putting a wrestler on the mat at 145.
At 275, Rich McKrush pinned Tyler Narehood for a first-period fall in 0:46 and Portage picked up another forfeit at 103.
Brandon Beech gave the Blue Devils their final win at 112 with a 21-4 tech fall over Justin Hutsky. Beech (7-11) gave up the first points on a takedown by Hutsky, before getting a reversal and two back points to finish out the opening stanza. Over the final three minutes, the B-A sophomore scored in bunches before the referee stopped the match at the 5:03 mark. Beech notched tree takedowns and four series of nearfalls for the 21-4 triumph.
Tyrone and Bellwood-Antis will be among the Class-AA teams who will meet for the District VI-AA Tournament on Friday, Feb. 20 and Saturday, Feb. 21.
Tyrone 59 Bellwood-Antis 9
145 – Matt Lauder (T) pinned Ron Colyer 5:10
152 – Brice Mertiff (T) won by forfeit
160 – No match
171 – Dwayne Cherry (BA) pinned Tyler Updike 1:02
189 – Justin Clark (T) won by forfeit
215 – Robert Emigh (T) won by forfeit
275 – Terry Tate (T) pinned Tyler Narehood 1:27
103 – T. J. Albright (T) won by forfeit
112 – Robert Waite (T) pinned Brandon Beech 0:41
119 – Eli Colyer (BA) dec. Josh Hunter 9-7
125 – Sam McCloskey (T) won by forfeit
130 – Dane McCloskey (T) pinned Dustin Harris 1:13
135 – Thad Westley (T) tech fall Josh Ervine 18-3
140 – No match
Bald Eagle Area 54 Tyrone 14
145 – David Fisher (BEA) pinned Matt Lauder 1:40
152 – Landis Wright (BEA) pinned Brice Mertiff 5:33
160 – Brock Bickle (BEA) won by forfeit
171 – Seth Nyman (BEA) pinned Tyler Updike 1:02
189 – Monty Rockey (BEA) pinned Justin Clark 0:51
215 – Travis Stem (BEA) pinned Robert Emigh 1:15
275 – Terry Tate (T) dec. Matt Corl 6-2
103 – T. J. Albright (T) dec. Jake Shirk 12-8
112 – Steve Sweitzer (BEA) dec. Robert Waite 5-4
119 – Bryant Clontz (BEA) pinned Josh Hunter 5:29
125 – Sam McCloskey (T) dec. Ryan MacNamara 8-4
130 – Dane McCloskey (T) pinned Mike Granite 3:34
135 – Clint Shirk (BEA) dec. Thad Westley 5-1
140 – Eryn Wagner (BEA) won by forfeit.
Portage 42 Bellwood-Antis 17
130 – Dustin Harris (BA) pinned Pat Hegeman 3:40
135 – Josh Ervine (BA) pinned John Baker 4:18
140 – Chuck Gouse (P) won by forfeit
145 – No match
152 – Mike McKrush (P) won by forfeit
160 – Mark Ferrence (P) won by forfeit
171 – Bryan Rusnak (P) dec. Dwayne Cherry 9-5
189 – No match
215 – No match
275 – Rich McKrush (P) pinned Tyler Narehood 0:46
103 – Troy McVickers (P) won by forfeit
112 – Brandon Beech (BA) tech fall Justin Hutsky 21-4, 5:03
119 – Jon Pollock (P) dec. Eli Colyer 8-2
125 – Chris Shoff (P) won by forfeit.
