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

Heating It Up at Allegany

It was a very cold night, a very cold bus ride and a very cold gym as we entered Allegany High School for our dual meet last evening.  Things would warm up quickly and the boys from Southern were hot on the mat, dominating the Campers on their home mat.

The evening started with Southern Mat Club members wrestling the Allegany Mat Club kids.  Our future looks very bright as the little Rams won match after match convincingly on their way to an overwhelming 12 win - 2 loss evening.  Our future Rams are technically strong and wrestle aggressive and tough.  Impressive is the best word to describe this young group.

After the SMC warmed the place up, it was time for the Rams to crank it up higher.  We started the evening with some JV matches.  Logan Tichinel, Justyce Fulmer and Jacob Zimmerman all were winners by pin last night vs. Allegany to set the tone for the varsity to begin.

We started at 132 with Zach Tichnell taking the mat for the Rams.  Zach turned in a dominating performance and came away with a 7-1 decision.  Tanner Massey, Johnny Lascaris and Stephen Collins each scored pins for Southern to extend our lead to 21-0 going into the meat of the Campers' lineup.  In each of the next four bouts, we faced Allegany's best wrestlers.  At 160, Seth Kisner fought hard and wrestled very well for a kid in his first year on the mat but dropped an 8-7 decision.  At 170, Will Foulke also lost a close decision and at 182, the result was the same.  Brian Rinker fell behind early against Allegany's most skilled wrestler but battled back and fell just short.

At 195, Scott Cooper took the mat for the Rams.  The first period was scoreless as both men fought for position and Scott was not able to hit any of his big moves.  As time was winding down, Cooper got in position and hit a nice move, throwing his opponent to his back as time expired.  Some sort of shoulder injury occurred and the match was over.  Cooper won by injury default to extend the Rams' lead to 27-9.

At this point, the wrestling was over and the forfeit-fest began.  For a variety of reasons, we had to forfeit at 220 and 285 to make the team score 27-21 at the turn.  Allegany had to forfeit the final four matches to Devan Hamrick, Ethan Bittinger, Austin Shaffer and Cooper McCauley.  The final score on a cold night in Cumberland, Southern 51 - Allegany 21.  The Rams move to 10-1 in dual meets this season and our next match is at home on Saturday against Williamsport.

Southern 51 - Allegany 21

106 - Devan Hamrick (SG) via forfeit
113 - Ethan Bittinger (SG) via forfeit
120 - Austin Shaffer (SG) via forfeit
126 - Cooper McCauley (SG) via forfeit
132 - Zach Tichnell (SG) dec JT Wilson (A) 7-1
138 - Tammer Massey (SG) pins Jordon Patterson (A) 4:39
145 - Johnny Lascaris (SG) pins Brandon Burns (A) 3:22
152 - Stephen Collins (SG) pins Ryan Murphy (A) 1:17
160 - Chris Stosick (A) dec Seth Kisner (SG) 8-7
170 - Caleb Cornwell (A) dec Will Foulke (SG) 6-2
182 - Kirk Robinelle (A) dec Brian Rinker (SG) 9-5
195 - Scott Cooper (SG) def Reid Lawson (A) inj def
220 - Hunter Wilhelm (A) via forfeit
285 - Garrett Maires (A) via forfeit 

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

Southern Over Northern

Austin Shaffer picked up his 99th career win with a pin at Northern on Thursday

The first of two cross county duals were held in Accident on Thursday night where the Rams came away with a 51-25 victory over the home standing Huskies.  Despite the lopsided score, it was a spirited, hard-fought match from start to finish in front of a large, excited crowd.  Photos courtesy of Kelli Fulmer.

A Northern/Southern match is intense, even when we win big!

The match began at 152 with Stephen Collins taking the mat for Southern.  The senior co-captain wasted very little time securing the takedown and working for the pin.  Before the first period came to an end, the ref was slapping the mat and the Rams took an early 6-0 lead.  Will Foulke lost a close decision and Seth Kisner added another first period pin to extend the lead to 12-3

Seth Kisner pins again!

The Huskies forfeited the next three weights which took the match to heavyweight.  Earning the forfeit wins were Dalton Cooper (182), John Zimmerman (195) and Brian Rinker (220).  Once again, we moved Scott Cooper into the largest weight class to take on the Huskies' big man.  Despite giving up nearly 100 pounds, Cooper stayed in control of the match, finally earning the pin in the second period to extend our lead to 36-3 as we headed to the lower weights.

Scott Cooper bumps to heavyweight and scores a pin!

Northern chose to forfeit to Devan Hamrick and after picking up the pin against Ethan Bittinger, Austin Shaffer took the mat, looking for his 99th career win.  Shaffer easily scored the takedown and some nearfall points in the first period and picked up the pin early in the second.  Shaffer goes for the 100th win on Wednesday night at Keyser.

Cooper McCauley with the cross face and ankle.

With the team score 48-9, we forfeited at 126 to set up a rematch at 132 for Cooper McCauley.  The match was close until the third period when the Husky wrestler pulled away for the win.  At 138, Zach Tichnell was in the position to win the match with a cradle in the third period, but his opponent was able to hook a leg and score a defensive pin (much to Zach's surprise!)  Southern 48 - Northern 25 heading into the final bout.

Johnny Lascaris with a big win in front of the big crowd.

At 145, senior Johnny Lascaris took the mat in front of most of his family and an excited Southern crowd.  Johnny was facing one of Northern's better wrestlers and we knew the match would be tight.  Lascaris got an early takedown but his opponent was able to score a reversal to tie it up.  Johnny was able to score 7 of the next 8 points to build a 9-3 lead which he held to the end to win the decision, making the final team score Southern 51 - Northern 25.

Will Foulke cranks his opponent in a close match.

The Rams move to 7-1 in duals this season and will face Fort Hill and Keyser on Wednesday evening in Keyser in a tri-match.

Southern 51 - Northern 25

106 - Devan Hamrick (SG) via forfeit
113 - Lane Rounds (NG) pins Ethan Bittinger (SG) :26
120 - Austin Shaffer (SG) pins Cody Platter (NG) 3:03
126 - Justin Opel (NG) via forfeit
132 - Cody Lauck (NG) dec Cooper McCauley (SG) 10-1
138 - Brysan Day (NG) pins Zach Tichnell (SG) 4:15
145 - Johnny Lascaris (SG) dec Chris McCann (NG) 9-3
152 - Stephen Collins (SG) pins Kyle Beard (NG) 1:54
160 - Ryan Miller (NG) dec Will Foulke (SG) 8-6
170 - Seth Kisner (SG) pins Cordel Yoder (NG) :55
182 - Dalton Cooper (SG) via forfeit
195 - John Zimmerman (SG) via forfeit
220 - Brian Rinker (SG) via forfeit
285 - Scott Cooper (SG) pins Brandon Platter (NG) 2:55

Sticking it to South

Seth Kisner thrills the crowd to finish the match with a pin.

South Hagerstown visited Southern on Monday evening for a dual meet which was rescheduled from December.  The home crowd was loud and excited and the Rams put on quite a show, scoring a 63-15 victory.

Dalton Cooper starts the match with a quick pin.

The match started at 182 where Dalton Cooper got the ball rolling with a quick pin for Southern.  His brother Scott did the same at 195 and Brian Rinker added a pin of his own at 220 to give the Rams an 18-0 lead.  South reeled off three straight wins (their only three of the night) to bring the score to 18-15.  South Hagerstown has two state ranked wrestlers and both were able to get wins vs. Southern.

Austin Shaffer in control as usual.

At 120, Austin Shaffer got the Rams back on track with a third period pin against a very physical, active wrestler.  Cooper McCauley and Zach Tichnell both recorded pins for Southern to stretch the lead to 36-15.  At 138, Tanner Massey survived a battle that lasted all three rounds and featured lots of scoring on both sides.  In the end, Tanner scored a 19-12 win.

Zach Tichnell, winner by fall.

The Rams then earned pins in each of the last four bouts of the evening.  At 145, Justyce Fulmer turned a close match in to a win by pin and the crowd went wild.  Next up, Stephen Collins had little trouble sticking his opponents shoulders to the mat for the win.

Will Foulke with the pin.

Will Foulke used his long legs and arms to stretch his opponent out and pick up a pin of his own and Seth Kisner thrilled the home crowd by coming off his back and locking up the South wrestlers and squeezing him up for the final pin of the evening.  Final Score, Southern Garrett 63 - South Hagerstown 15

Scott Cooper gets the pin.

Southern Garrett 63 - South Hagerstown 15

106 - Isiah Brooks (SH) dec Devan Hamrick  (SG) 6-2
113 - Anthony Sodergren (SH) pins Ethan Bittinger (SG) 2:47
120 - Austin Shaffer (SG) pins Timothy Heidtke (SH) 3:41
126 - Cooper McCauley (SG) pins Brandon Decker (SH) 1:05
132 - Zach Tichnell (SG) pins Luke Heinrich (SH) 5:19
138 - Tanner Massey (SG) dec Jason Smith (SH) 19-12
145 - Justyce Fulmer (SG) pins Omar Mbye (SH) 4:32
152 - Stephen Collins (SG) pins Nathan Resspass (SH) 1:33
160 - Will Foulke (SG) pins Tony Owusu (SH) 3:10
170 - Seth Kisner (SG) pins Sarosh Bukhari (SH) 1:11
182 - Dalton Cooper (SG) pins Lemonte Green (SH) :29
195 - Scott Cooper (SG) pins Spencer Moore (SH) :31
220 - Brian Rinker (SG) pins Michael Rodriguez (SH) 5:36
285 - Marquil Holt (SH) pins Keith Chapman (SG) :40

Super Duals - Day 2

Southern Rams, 3rd place at 2013 Super Duals

The 2013 Super Duals came to an end on Saturday with the Southern Rams bringing home some impressive hardware.  As a team, we placed third overall and Austin Shaffer was awarded the Most Outstanding Wrestler award.  Numerous other Rams won trophies and medals of their own in a strong effort by our team.


Austin Shaffer, undefeated and named Most Outstanding Wrestler

Day 2 of the Super Duals began with a match against Hyndman, PA  Hyndman always has tough kids, but they usually have a few holes and this season's team was no exception.  The match started with a double forfeit at 138 and a win by forfeit at 145.  Stephen Collins got the wrestling started by picking up a big pin for the Rams at 152.  Seth Kisner won by forfeit and Brian Rinker added another pin but we gave up 3 pins and the team score was 24-21 Rams as we went to the lower weights.  Devan Hamrick and Austin Shaffer won by pin for Southern but we lost by pin at 120 and 126 to give us a 36-33 lead going into the final match.  The Hornets had a wrestler for Zach Tichnell, but chose to give us a forfeit instead to give the Rams a 42-33 win.

Brian Rinker had a great weekend, going 7-1 to place 2nd at 195

The next match of the day was vs. the Huskies from Northern in a preview of Thursday night's dual meet.  Northern gave us forfeits at 4 weight classes and Austin Shaffer, Stephen Collins and Seth Kisner all added pins while Devan Hamrick won by tech fall and Will Foulke won by decision to give Southern a 50-24 win over our county rival.

Devan Hamrick in control on his way to a 2nd place finish

Buckhannon was our next match of day 2.  We knew going into the tournament they would be our biggest challenge after Middletown and that proved to be true.  The Bucs have a number of tough, highly ranked kids in AAA, WV.  We wrestled very well against this highly touted team but drop the match by the score of 40-30.  Cooper McCauley, Tanner Massey, Seth Kisner and Dalton Cooper all picked up pins for Southern while Austin Shaffer and Brian Rinker added decision victories in this match.  Devan Hamrick lost a 4-3 decision to the third ranked kid in WV in an exciting match.  Our forfeit at 138 proved to be the difference in the end.

Sophomore Dalton Cooper went 6-2 for a 3rd place finish

Our next match was against Frankfort, WV.  In December, we defeated the Falcons 42-40 but at Super Duals, we dominated by winning 69-12.  Pinners for the Rams in this match were Austin Shaffer, Cooper McCauley, Tanner Massey, Justyce Fulmer, Seth Kisner, Brian Rinker and Keith Chapman.  Devan Hamrick added a tech fall and Zach Tichnell, Dalton Cooper and Marcus Tichinel were given forfeits

Cooper McCauley was a pinner this weekend and placed 3rd

Our final match of the day was vs. Petersburg, WV where we recorded a 66-18 victory to finish the tournament 7-2.  The Rams winning by pin in this match were Devan Hamrick, Austin Shaffer, Cooper McCauley, Zach Tichnell, Tanner Massey, Stephen Collins, Will Foulke and Dalton Cooper.  Ethan Bittinger, Brian Rinker and Keith Chapman were awarded forfeits.

Seth Kisner with a killer cradle

Day 1 Results

Individual Summary

• Austin Shaffer.  8-0 on the day (6-0 @120, 2-0 @113).  Named Outstanding Wrestler.  2nd place trophy at 120
• Brian Rinker.  7-1 for the tournament.  2nd place trophy @195
• Devan Hamrick.  6-2 for the tournament.  2nd place trophy @106 
• Dalton Cooper.  6-2 for the tournament  3rd place trophy @ 182
• Stephen Collins  5-1 for the tournament.  3rd place trophy @152
• Cooper McCauley  5-3 for the tournament.  3rd place trophy @126
• Zach Tichnell  5-3 for the tournament.  4th place @132
• Tanner Massey  4-3 for the tournament.  3rd place trophy @ 145
• Will Foulke  4-4 for the tournament   4th place @160
• Seth Kisner  4-4 for the tournament  4th place @ 170
• Ethan Bittinger  3 wins
• Justyce Fulmer 2 wins
• Keith Chapman 2 wins
• Scott Cooper 1 win
• Marcus Tichinel 1 win

Sharing the love, center stage!

Team Summary  6-2  3rd place

• Middletown 50 - Southern 18
• Southern 39 - Allegany 32
• Southern 40 - Fort Hill 30
• Southern 42 - Hyndman 33
• Southern 50 - Northern 24
• Buckhannon 40 - Southern 30
• Southern 69 - Frankfort 12
• Southern 66 - Petersburg 18

Super Duals, Day 1

Zach Tichnell won two of three matches during day 1 of the 2013 Super Duals

The 2013 Fort Hill Super Duals began on Friday with the Rams facing the tough Middletown Knights in the opening round.  Middletown is loaded and has a good shot to win this tournament and go a long way in the post season.  The match started well for the Rams as Austin Shaffer pick up an easy 17-1 tech fall to get the ball rolling.  Things went south quickly as the Knights ran off 7 straight victories to take a 41-5 lead.  Dalton Cooper got the Rams back on track with a pin at 182, followed by a major decision by Scott Cooper and a decision by Brian Rinker to bring the score to 41-18.  Middletown won the final two bouts to make the final score Middletown 50 - Southern 18.

Next up for Southern was a much improved squad from Allegany High School.  The Rams won 6 of the first 7 bouts, the only loss a forfeit at 138, to take a 27-6 lead.  Of the 6 wins, 3 were pins by Shaffer, Cooper McCauley and Tanner Massey.  The Campers came storming back, winning the next 5 matches with 3 pins of their own to take a 32 - 27 lead going into the final two matches.  Devan Hamrick won by fall at 106 and Ethan Bittinger picked up a forfeit at 113 to secure the win for the Rams 39-32.

In our final match of day one, we faced the host school, Fort Hill.  Cooper McCauley, Zach Tichnell and Justyce Fulmer started thing off with pins and Stephen Collins earned a decision to give Southern a 21-6 lead.  Will Foulke and Seth Kisner each wrestled well but lost close decisions to bring the score to 21-12.  Dalton Cooper scored a big pin for the Rams and Brian Rinker won a decision to extend the lead to 30-12 but the Sentinals scored pins in three of the next four weights to keep it close.  Going into the final match, the Rams were up by 6 with Austin Shaffer remaining.  Shaffer earned a dominating 12-0 victory to secure the win for the Rams 40-30

Today's order:
Hyndman, PA
Norhtern Garrett, MD
Buckhannon, WV
Frankfort, WV
Petersburg, WV

Individually, Austin Shaffer was the only Ram who was able to win all three matches on Friday.  Devan Hamrick, Cooper McCauley, Zach Tichnell, Stephen Collins, Dalton Cooper and Brian Rinker each won twice.  Ethan Bittinger, Tanner Massey, Justyce Fulmer, Will Foulke and Scott Cooper each one once.  Wrestling starts at 10:30.

 

Sweet Victory at Mt Ridge

Thursday, January 3rd was a great evening!  Our Southern Rams visited Frostburg to take on the Miners of Mt Ridge and came home with a hard fought 41-33 win.

It didn't start out too well for the Rams.  In the very first match, freshman, Corey Horner had to face defending stat champion Adam Martz at 138.  Corey wrestled had, but Martz earned the pin to give the Miners a 6-0 lead.  At 145, Justyce Fulmer filled in for Tanner Massey who was out sick.  It was a close match but in the end, Fulmer was unable to escape and lost a 4-3 decision.  MR 9 - SG 0   Stephen Collins wrestled hard at 152, but lost a 6-3 decision Mt Ridge and Will Foulke was pinned at 160 and Southern was suddenly trailing Mt Ridge 18-0.

Junior Seth Kisner goes for the pin!

Junior Seth Kisner was up next at 170 in a must win situation for the Rams.  Seth, in his first year wrestling, got a quick takedown to take the lead but could not hold his opponent down.   After the escape, the Mt Ridge wrestler was able to get a takedown of his own and put Seth on his back.  After a few nervous seconds, Seth came out of the hold and got a reversal and the Ridge kid was on his back.  As the first period ended, Seth had a 7-5 lead.  The second period started in the neutral position and within a minute, Kisner took the kid right to his back and squeezed hard until he was awarded the pin.  It was a huge win for Seth and the Rams.  MR 18 - SG 6

Brian Rinker gets another pin!

We lost by pin at 182 and recieved a forfeit at 195 to make the score 24-12 heading into the heavier weights.  We bumped around in the higher weight classes to get the best matchups and it paid off.  At 220, Brian Rinker went right to work and picked up a pin in the second period.  Scott Cooper went out at heavyweight and also scored a huge pin for Southern.  As we made the turn to the lightweights, the team score was tied at 24 and everyone knew we were in a tight match for sure.

Scott Cooper bumped up to heavyweight for the match

At 106, Devan Hamrick was dominant as usual, but was unable to pin his opponent.  He won by tech fall 16-0, but we needed a pin and we were worried that it would come back to bite us in the end.  We gave Mt Ridge a forfeit at 113 and Austin Shaffer picked up another pin at 120 and we held a slight 5 point lead with two matches to go.

State Champion Austin Shaffer pins again!

At 126, Cooper McCauley stormed out to a quick 5-0 lead but was unable to hold the lead and the second period ended with the score tied 5-5.  In the third, there was alot of action and scoring and as time was winding down, Cooper was down 8-7 and tried a throw that did not work and he ended up losing a 13-7 decision.  SG 35 - MR 33 with one match remaining.

Cooper McCauley in control early in a tight match

In the final bout of the evening, Zach Tichnell put together a dominating performance, scoring 2 in the first and 8 in the second to take a 10-0 lead into the third.  With the entire match on the line, Zach added one more takedown, this time to his opponents back and scored the pin to bring the final score to SG 41 - MR 33.

Zach Tichnell pins for the win!

It was a great night of wrestling in Frostburg and the Rams came home with an exciting win.



Joy!



Southern Garrett 41 - Mountain Ridge 33

106 - Devan Hamrick (SG) tech fall Brock Peterbrink (MR) 16-0
113 - Cody Matthews (MR) via Forfeit
120 - Austin Shaffer (SG) pins Colton White (MR) 3:23
126 - JT Thomas (MR) dec Cooper McCauley (SG) 13-7
132 - Zach Tichnell (SG) pins Tim Everly (MR) 4:24
138 - Adam Martz (MR) pins Corey Horner (SG) 2:56
145 - Justin Bryant (MR) dec Justyce Fulmer (SG) 4-3
152 - Nick Shifflett (MR) dec Stephen Collins (SG) 6-3
160 - Tyler Maynard (MR) pins Will Foulke (SG) 3:32
170 - Seth Kisner (SG) pins Tyler Valentine (MR) 3:06
182 - Austin Clark (MR) pins Dalton Cooper (SG) :59
195 - John Zimmerman (SG) via Forfeit
220 - Brian Rinker (SG) pins James Halcomb (MR) 2:21
285 - Scott Cooper (SG) pins Brian Fuente (MR) 1:28