Alec Horner starts us off with a pin! |
The Southern Rams returned to action on Saturday and put their 15 match win streak on the line in a match at Williamsport Wildcats' home gym. The St. James school brought their JV wrestlers so it was a full afternoon of great wrestling action.
Joey Embleton wins again! |
Following the host school's senior night celebration activities, the match against Williamsport began at 138 pounds. Alec Horner took the mat and quickly gave the Rams a 6-0 lead with a first period pin. Jimmy Schwab followed with another quick pin and Southern's lead was 12-0. At 152, senior Corey Horner faced off with one of the Wildcat's returning state qualifiers, a senior co-captain, Tanner Canfield. Horner went right to work and controlled the whole match en-route to a solid 7-2 decision.
Impressive win for freshman Hunter Park |
Williamsport got on the board with a pin at 160 and Joey Embleton got it right back with a pin of his own at 170 to bring the team score to 21-6 in favor of the visiting Rams. The match at 182 saw the return of another Williamsport state place winner, Kobe Baker. His win closed the gap to 21-12. At 195, freshman Hunter Park won with a dominating 8-2 decision and at 220, the Wildcats were able to secure a pin, making the team score 24-18 in Southern's favor.
Jake Sweitzer coming back to pin! |
Cole Sweitzer (285) and Brison Dixon (106) both picked up wins to stretch our lead to 33-18, heading into the final four bouts. At 113, freshman Nate Tasker fell behind early but came storming back, scoring 10 points in the third period to capture an exciting 14-13 last second victory. Tasker's win was enough to clinch the victory for the Rams, but the excitement was not done for the afternoon.
At 120, Jake Sweitzer also fell behind early and shocked the crowd with a reversal and pin late in the third period for the victory. Jace Guy lost to Williamsport's top wrestler in a tough, bloody battle and the stage was set for the final match of the day.
Devan Hamrick in search of history |
Devan Hamrick took the mat in the final bout of the afternoon in search of his 150th career victory. The list of wrestlers who have earned that many wins is very short and quite exclusive. Hamrick left no doubt that he deserved to be on the list, dominating his opponent, scoring 14 points before decking him with a pinning combination in the third period. Hamrick joins Brutus and Bubba Scheffel, Lex Ozias and Austin Shaffer as Rams who have 150 career wins. This is indeed a huge accomplishment.
The win was the 30th of the season for the Southern Rams. With two more matches on the schedule, Southern is still in a position to qualify for the prestigious, post season "regional duals". Next up for the Rams is a dual meet at home on Thursday night against our rivals from Frostburg, the Mountain Ridge Miners. Wrestling is set to begin at 7pm on Thursday in the Ram Arena in Oakland.
Michael Hollingsworth with a pin! |
Southern 48 - Williamsport 23
106 - Brison Dixon (SG) dec Bryce Palamar (W) 4-3113 - Nate Tasker (SG) dec Luke Nalley (W) 14-13
120 - Jake Sweitzer (SG) pins Cody Crawford (W) 5:16
126 - Justin Beckley (W) tech Jace Guy (SG) 16-0
132 - Devan Hamrick (SG) pins Trent Gross (W) 4:32
138 - Alec Horner (SG) pins Nate Anderson (W) :35
145 - Jimmy Schwab (SG) pins Hayden Pendley (W) 1:38
152 - Corey Horner (SG) dec Tanner Canfield (W) 7-2
160 - Jerry Moschel (W) pins Brad Davis (SG) 3:22
170 - Joey Embleton (SG) pins Connor Thomas (SG) 4:46
182 - Kobe Baker (W) pins Bernie Sislo (SG) 3:30
195 - Hunter Park (SG) dec Kai Holman (W) 8-2
220 - Dylan Anderson (W) pins Scotty Tichnell (SG) :25
285 - Cole Sweitzer (SG) pins Sean-Cole Ruth (W) 1:22