Tri Match Thrillers

It was an exciting and historic night on the mats in Keyser on Wednesday evening.  The Rams were in action against Fort Hill and Keyser in a tri match.  Additionally, junior Austin Shaffer was searching for his 100th career win.  This is an exclusive club and membership takes a lot of hard work and dedicationa dn an equal amount of skill.  In the end, Shaffer became Southern's 14 wrestle to reach this milestone.

For the first match of the evening, the Rams faced Fort Hill.  Southern won easily in the first meeting of the teams earlier this month, this match would prove to be much closer.  The first bout was at 145 where Johnny Lascaris gave the Rams an early lead with a first period pin.  Fort Hill won the next three matches by decisions to give the Sentinals an 11-6 lead.  Brian Rinker picked up a second period pin at 182 and Scott Cooper added a pin of his own at 195 and the Rams were back on top 18-11. 

But the see-saw battle continued as Fort Hill earned pins of their own at 220 and 285 to regain the lead 23-18 going into the lighter weights.  At 106, Devan Hamrick earned a tech fall to tie it up at 23.  Fort Hill won by pin at 113 and forfeited to Austin Shaffer at 120 and we were tied again at 29-29 with three matches remaining.  At 126, Cooper McCauley was in a tight battle that went to the wire, literally.  With a flurry of action at the end, the buzzer rang and the score was tied.  The match went to overtime.  In the extra session, McCauley was able to score a takedown to win the sudden death match.  Next up was Zach Tichnell at 132.  He dominated his opponent for a major decision with put Southern up by 7 with one match remaining, icing the victory for Southern.  In the final bout at 138, Tanner Massey fell behind early but fought back to earn a tough, 8-7 decision to make the final team score Southern 39 - Fort Hill 29

Our match against Keyser started at 152 and started with Stephen Collins winning by pin.  At 160, Seth Kisner lost a decision, but Dalton Cooper earned a pin at 170 move the team score to 12-3.  Brian Rinker lost a tough decision at 182 but Scott Cooper won by tech fall at 195 to extend Southern's lead to 17-6.  The Golden Tornado stormed back with pins at 220 and 285 to take an 18-17 lead going into the lightweights.

Devan Hamrick won by decision at 106 and Keyser won by pin at 113 to bring the team score to 24-20 Keyser.  Austin Shaffer put the Rams back in the lead for good at 120 with a tech fall and Cooper McCauley added a major decision to extend the Ram's lead to 29-24.  At 138, Tanner Massey put the match away with a pin to make the team score 35-24 going into the final bout of the evening.  At 145, Johnny Lascaris took the mat for the rams.  The final bout would be close and back and forth like the entire evening of wrestling was.  In the end, Johnny tied the score in the final seconds and was able to score the winning takedown in overtime to put the icing on the cake.  Southern 38 - Keyser 27

Southern 39 - Fort Hill 29

106 - Devan Hamrick (SG) tech fall Jacob Harper (FH) 15-0
113 - David Baker (FH) pins Ethan Bittinger (SG) 3:36
120 - Austin Shaffer (SG) via Forfeit
126 - Cooper McCauley (SG) dec Tyler Dolly (FH) 12-10 ot
132 - Zach Tichnell (SG) m dec Tristan Tressler (FH) 12-3
138 - Tanner Massey (SG) dec Adam McDonald (FH) 8-7
145 - Johnny Lascaris (SG) pins Ryan Eckard (FH) :40
152 - Drake Arnold (FH) dec Stephen Collins (SG) 9-8
160 - Joey Turbin (FH) m dec Seth Kisner (SG) 13-2
170 - Cody Airgo (FH) m dec Dalton Cooper (SG) 13-0
182 - Brian Rinler (SG) pins Jordon Nichols (FH) 3:10
195 - Scott Cooper (SG) pins Brandon Harper (FH) :52
220 - Brennan Carlin (FH) pins Keith Chapman (SG) 3:21
285 - Timmy Friend (FH) pins Marcus Tichinel (SG) :25

Southern 38 - Keyser 27

106 - Devan Hamrick (SG) dec Ethen Whitlock (K) 6-2
113 - Hayden Siler (K) pins Ethan Bittinger (SG) :20
120 - Austin Shaffer (SG) tech fall Zach Cannon (K) 16-1
126 - Cooper McCauley (SG) m dec Lanny Johnson (K) 18-6
132 - Beau Horner (K) dec Zach Tichnell (SG) 6-1
138 - Tanner Massey (SG) pins Jon Evans (K) :41
145 - Johnny Lascaris (SG) dec Cody Whitlock (K) 7-5 ot
152 - Stephen Collins (SG) pins Noah Hartman (K) 5:26
160 - Jacob Mellott (K) dec Seth Kisner (SG) 8-2
170 - Dalton Cooper (SG) pins Zach Stickley (K) 5:12
182 - Cody Rodeheaver (K) dec Brian Rinker (SG) 6-0
195 - Scott Cooper (SG) tech fall Max Redman (K) 19-4
220 - Jared Miller (K) pins Keith Chapman (SG) 5:58
285 - KJ Ravenscroft (K) pins Marcus Tichinel (SG) 1:13