Rough Night Camping

Dalton Cooper got the Rams on
the board with a quick pin

When the Southern Rams entered the gym at Allegany High School on Saturday evening to face the Campers in the opening match of the season, we knew it would not be a repeat of last season's dominating shut out performance.  With two forfeits in our lineup and 8 wrestlers who had never wrestled a varsity match, it was apparent this would be a much more tightly contested match.  Allegany had not beaten the Rams in recent memory, but they looked like, and wrestled like, a team on a mission to change that course.

The match started at 170 with first year wrestler Matt Jones taking on one of Allegany's experienced co-captains.  Jones did a nice job in the first period and it ended with a 2-0 lead for the Camper grappler.  In the second, Jones was on bottom and fought off numerous pinning attempts, but finally was turned and stuck to give Allegany a 6-0 lead.  The 182 pound class featured another first year Ram wrestler against a more experienced Allegany foe (and coach's son).  Bernie Sislo fought hard and in the end dropped a 7-0 decision to extend the Campers lead to 9-0.

Devan Hamrick with the pin

Jimmy Schwab with a dominating win

Dalton Cooper got the Rams on the board at 195 with a first period pin, but he was followed with two more young Rams, David Lewis and Jake Zimmerman, losing by pin to two more Allegany wrestlers and suddenly, the Rams were in a pretty big hole, trailing 21-6 heading into the lower weights.

At 106, Allegany received a forfeit to stretch their lead to 27-6.  After a double forfeit at 113, Southern started the comeback with four straight wins.  Jake Sweitzer was awarded a forfeit at 120 and state runner-up Devan Hamrick picked up a big pin at 126 to close the gap.  Alec Horner won by forfeit at 132 and Jimmy Schwab scored a dominating major decision at 138, and suddenly, the Rams had a 28-27 lead with three bouts remaining.

Max Bittinger pins and
his teammates celebrate

The bout at 145 featured another of our wrestlers competing in his first varsity match against one of Allegany's seasoned veterans.  Freshman Joey Embleton wrestled very well against his senior opponent, but lost a 6-2 decision to give the Campers a 30-28 lead.  Next up, Ethan Bittinger lost an 8-0 major decision and the team score was 34-28 with one bout remaining.  It would all come down to this.  If Corey Horner could score a pin, the team score would be tied and the winner would be decided by criteria.

Horner wrestled well and was in control of the entire match, but in the end, he was not able to turn his opponent and came away with a 3-1 decision, bringing the final team score to 34-31 in Allegany's favor.

The Allegany Campers are a much improved squad and wrestled tough and with a lot of heart.  Our inexperience showed and the two forfeits played a big part in our loss.  This is just the first match of the season and we will work hard in practice to get better every day and we now look forward to our rematch with the Allegany Campers at Southern in January and our chance to avenge this tough loss.

On a positive note, our JV wrestlers dominated the mats last evening.  Trenten Friend, John Mayne, Luke O'Brien, Max Bittinger, Michael Duggan and Zach Burgess all picked up wins in their JV matches al Allegany.

170 - Caleb Cornwell (A) pins Matt Jones (SG) 2:40
182 - Aaron Lancaster (A) dec Bernie Sislo (SG) 7-0
195 - Dalton Cooper (SG) pins Caleb Wilt (A) :39
220 - Diego Thompson (A) pins David Lewis (SG) 1:52
285 - Cody Lynn (A) pins Jake Zimmerman (SG)
106 - Damian Sudac (A) via Forfeit
113 - Double Forfeit
120 - Jake Sweitzer (SG) via Forfeit
126 - Devan Hamrick (SG) pins Brennan Ives (A) 2:30
132 - Alec Horner (SG) via Forfeit
138 - Jimmy Schwab (SG) m dec Matt Murphy (A) 10-2
145 - Christopher Stosick (A) dec Joey Embleton (SG) 6-2
152 - Karson Robinette (A) m dec Ethan Bittinger (SG) 8-0
160 - Corey Horner (SG) dec Jordan Pattrerson (A) 3-1

 

Red/White Scrimmage 2014

It was an exciting night under the spotlight at Southern High School last night as the Rams presented the 2014 version of our annual Red/White Scrimmage.  This season, The RedHOTZ took on The Snowmen in the inter-squad clash in an epic battle that came down to the final minutes of the final bout.  In the end, The RedHOTZ, coached by Tim Rush, defeated the Snowmen, coached by Chad King, 45-39 in exciting fashion.

 

The evening started with the battle two of our top wrestlers and likely state place winners.  Senior co-captain Josh King battled sophomore Jimmy Schwab.  King scored a late takedown in the first period to take the lead and Schwab escaped early in the second to tighten the match.  In a flurry of action, Jimmy looked to be on the verge of scoring the go ahead takedown when Josh kicked over with a slick move to send Schwab to his back.  King tightened the hold and scored the second period fall to give the RedHOTZ a quick 6-0 lead.

 

The Snowmen won the next two bouts with a Dalton Cooper tech fall and an Alec Horner major decision to give them a 9-6 lead.  That lead would not last long as the RedHOTZ scored 4 straight pins to open a commanding 30-9 advantage.  Winning by pin during that streak were Luke O'Brien, David Lewis, John Mayne and Jake Zimmerman.  Ethan Bittinger finished out the first half with an exciting 9-8 decision to give the RedHOTZ the 33-9 lead at intermission.

 

During intermission, we were entertained by 5 matches featuring 10 of the top youth wrestlers in the Southern Mat Club.  Their excellent training was very evident as they performed with great skill and technique.  They hit cradles, singles and doubles, sit outs and switches and half nelsons like pros and one match even went into overtime.  The future of Southern Wrestling looks very bright.

 

As the second half of the Red/White scrimmage began, the Snowmen knew they had better start winning some matches, and they did.  The white team reeled off five straight wins, 4 by pin, to take a 36-33 lead.  Winning by pin for the Snowmen were Jake Sweitzer, Corey Horner, Alec Horner and David Lewis.  The highlight match of the second half pitted defending state runner-up Devan Hamrick against senior Josh King.  In the first period, King was the aggressor and shot repeatedly to try and score the first points.  Hamrick was able to fight off each and every takedown attempt and the 1st period ended scoreless.  Devan chose bottom in the second and was able to get the escape and the 1-0 lead.  The remainder of the match was spent on their feet with repeated takedown attempts by both wrestlers and great defense on all those attempts.  The match ended 1-0 in Hamrick's favor to give the white the 36-33 lead.

Marcus Tichinel score a pin to give the red a 39-36 lead then Joey Embleton scored a decision for the white to tie the score at 39 with one match remaining.  The final bout of the evening was between two freshmen, Zach Burgess and Michael Duggan.  With the entire night's match on the line, these two young wrestlers squared off under the spotlight with both teams cheering on their wrestler.  Duggan scored the first points of the match with a takedown in the first period.  He added to his lead with an escape in the second, making it 3-0.  As the third period began with Burgess on top, everyone knew that he would need to turn Michael to win the match for his team.  An opportunity opened up and Zach sank a half nelson and did turn Duggan, pinning his shoulders to the mat to score the pin and give his team the 45-39 victory.

The evening was filled with excitement and promise for this season and the future of Southern Garrett Wrestling.

Josh King (R) pins Jimmy Schwab (W) 2:45
Dalton Cooper (W) techs Matt Jones (R) 20-5
Alec Horner (W) m dec Trenten Friend (R) 10-2
Luke O'Brien (R) pins Michael Duggan (W) 2:35
David Lewis (R) pins Tristan Newcomb (W) 5:16
John Mayne (R) pins Bernie Sislo (W) 6:48 ot
Jake Zimmerman (R) pins Max Bittinger (W) 5:06
Ethan Bittinger (R) dec Patrick Duggan (W) 9-8

Jake Sweitzer (W) pins Zach Burgess (R) 3:34
Devan Hamrick (W) dec Josh King (R) 1-0
Corey Horner (W) pins Matt Jones (R) 3:32
Alec Horner (W) pins Luke O'Brien (R) 5.12
David Lewis (W) pins John Mayne (R) 2:35
Marcus Tichinel (R) pins Max Bittinger (W) 4:28
Joey Embleton (W) dec Ethan Bittinger (R) 9-3
Zach Burgess (R) pins Michael Duggan (W) 4:27

 

2014-2015 Season Preview

Southern Rams, 2104/2015

Meet the 2014/15 Southern Rams

The 2014/2015 regular season begins on Saturday afternoon with a 4pm dual meet at Allegany High School vs. The Campers.  The Southern Rams take the mat with a strong determination to overcome the loss of over half of last year's team.  Seven starters from last year's squad graduated, including state champion Austin Shaffer, and one moved away.  Ordinarily, this would crush a normal team, but the Southern Rams have reloaded with some incredible talent and look to have another outstanding season.

The Rams will be led this season by state runner-up Devan Hamrick and senior co-captains Josh King, Tristan Newcomb and Dalton Cooper.  A great crop of freshmen and the other returning wrestlers make up our amazing team.

Our Team Captains
Dalton Cooper, Devan Hamrick, Josh King, Tristan Newcomb

The Lower Weights

State runner-up Devan Hamrick leads the Rams in the lower weight classes.  Joining Devan are freshmen Zachary Burgess, Jake Sweitzer, Alec Horner, Luke O'Brien and junior Trenten Friend.  The Southern Mat Club has given us several very tough freshmen who will contribute right away in these lower classes.

The Middle Weights

Regional qualifiers from last winter, Jimmy Schwab and Josh King, lead a strong group in our middle weight classes.  Fighting to fill the other classes in the middle are juniors Corey Horner, Matt Jones and Ethan Bittinger, sophomore Patrick Duggan and freshmen Dalton Rinker, Joey Embleton and Michael Duggan.  Once again, the Southern Mat Club is helping us by sending us quality wrestlers who will step right in the line-up.

The Upper Weights

Senior co-captains Dalton Cooper and Tristan Newcomb lead a tough group of  athletes in these upper weights.  They are joined by last season's 285 Marcus Tichinel and seniors David Lewis and John Mayne and juniors Jake Zimmerman, Max Bittinger and Bernie Sislo.

The 2014/2015 Southern Garrett Rams will look a little different that last season's squad, but you can count on hard work, great effort and a few surprises along the way.  Most people would count out a team who lost 8 of 14 starters, but the Rams, powered by the Southern Mat Club, will take the mat with new faces but the same old talent and intensity that our fans have come to know and love.

2014-2015 Southern Rams

106-120   Jake Sweitzer (9)
106-120   Zachary Burgess (9)
113-126   Alec Horner (9)
113-126   Devan Hamrick (11)
120-132   Trenten Friend (11)
120-132   Luke O'Brien (9)
126-138   Josh King (12)
126-138   Michael Duggan (9)
132-145   Jimmy Schwab (10)
138-152   Ethan Bittinger (11)
138-152   Joey Embleton (9)
145-160   Patrick Duggan (10)
145-160   Corey Horner (11)
152-170   Dalton Rinker (9)
160-182   Matt Jones (11)
170-195   Bernie Sislo (11)
170-195   Dalton Cooper (12)
182-220   Tristan Newcomb (12)
195-285   David Lewis (12)
195-285   John Mayne (12)
195-285   Jacob Zimmerman (11)
220-285   Max Bittinger (11)
220-285   Marcus Tichinel (11)

2014-2015 Schedule

Date                Opponent                                           Location         Time   

Dec. 3             Red/White Scrimmage                      Home                 7:00pm

Dec. 6              Allegany                                             Away               4:00pm          

 

Dec. 16            Fort Hill/Keyser – JV only                  Keyser             6:00pm

Dec. 17           Brunswick                                          Away               1:30pm

Dec. 19/20     Musselman Duals                              Away              

Dec. 30           Northern                                            Away               7:00pm     

 

Jan. 2/3          Super Duals                                       Fort Hill          4:00pm           

Jan. 8               Hyndman/Meyersdale                     Meyersdale    6:00pm

Jan. 9/10       Hub Cup                                             North              5:00pm

Jan. 14            Frankfort (w/Northern)                  Home              6:00pm          

Jan. 17            Allegany                                             Home              6:00pm

Jan. 21           Fort Hill/Keyser                                Home              6:00pm                      

Jan. 29            Northern                                            Home              7:00pm          

Jan. 31            Williamsport                                      Home              1:00pm

Feb. 5              Mountain Ridge                                 Away               7:00pm          

 

Feb. 7              Keyser/Oakdale                                Home              1:00pm

Feb. 11           Regional Duals                                  TBA

Feb. 14           State Duals                                         TBA                 1:00pm

Feb. 21           Bi-County Tournament                    M. Ridge         10:00am        

Feb. 28           Regional Tournament                      TBA                 10:00am      

Mar. 6/7         State Tournament                             UMD