Scratched by the Cats

Tuesday afternoon's match against the Williamsport Wildcats had huge post season implications.  A win by the Rams and a trip to the regional duals was all but guaranteed.  That didn't happen.  The Wildcats were stronger and faster than the home-standing Rams and came away with a 40-24 victory.

The match started badly for Southern and we were never able to catch back up.  The first two bouts (220 and 285) ended in pins and we were down 12-0.  At 106, freshman Devan Hamrick faced a highly-ranked senior named Nick Miller.  Miller controlled the match but Devan fought hard, staying off his back and refusing to give Miller a pin or a tech fall.  At 113, Williamsport extended their lead to 22-0 with another pin.  We were in a pretty deep hole.

Junior Austin Shaffer picked up the first points for Southern at 120 with a quick pin to bring the score to 22-6.  We still had a long way to go. At 126, co-captain Cooper McCauley fought hard but dropped a 5-4 decision.  Next up was Zach Tichnell against 9th ranked Bryan Davis.  Zach wrestled hard and kept the match close but in the end, lost a 4-0 decision to Davis, extending Williamsport's lead to 28-6.

Tanner Massey and Johnny Lascaris each lost decisions at 138 and 145 to bring the score to 34-6 with only 5 matches remaining.  Johnny held his opponent on his back for most of the first period but was unable to secure the pin at 145 and allowed his opponent to fight back for the come-from-behind victory.

Southern got back on the winning track as Stephen Collins and Seth Kisner each won by pin to bring the team score to 34-18 with 3 matches remaining.  At 170, Will Foulke wrestled hard, tough and aggressive and set the pace for the entire match but made one too many mistakes allowing the Williamspot wrestler to score once too often.  In the end, Foulke dropped a 9-7 decision and the match was mathematically over.  Brian Rinker at 182 lost by decision and Scott Cooper finished the evening with a first period pin to make the final team score 40-24.

Next up for the Rams is another Home match on Thursday evening against the Northern Huskies.  It will also be senior night at Southern.  The Rams fall to 10-2 on the season and look to get back on the winning track against the Huskies on Thursday.

Williamsport 40 - Southern 24

106 - Nick Miller (W) m dec Devan Hamrick (SG) 15-2
113 - Justin Beckeley (W) pin Ethan Bittinger (SG) 1:11
120 - Austin Shaffer (SG) pin Tanner Canfield (W) 1:05
126 - Barry Loeser (W) dec Cooper McCauley (SG) 5-4
132 - Bryan Davis (W) dec Zach Tichnell (SG) 4-0
138 - Sinjin Shoop (W) dec Tanner Massey (SG) 8-1
145 - Kobe Baker (W) dec Johnny Lascaris (SG) 9-7
152 - Stephen Collins (SG) pin Devan Nalley (W) 3:25
160 - Seth Kisner (SG) pin Justin Kennedy (W) 3:54
170 - Jacob Cody (W) dec Will Foulke (SG) 9-7
182 - Austin Golden (W) dec Brian Rinker (SG) 6-2
195 - Scott Cooper (SG) pin Lasher Urcilio (W) 1:05
220 - Austin Keadle (W) pin Keith Chapman (SG) 2:28
285 - Branden Iseminger (W) pin Marcus Tichinel (SG) 2:26