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