An Epic Battle

Nate Tasker gets us started with a big win!

 
As far as high school wrestling matches go, it doesn't get much better than last night's clash between county rivals, the Northern Huskies and the Southern Rams.  Both teams entered the match on big winning streaks.  The Rams have not lost since December and are on a 15 match win streak.  The Huskies entered the match unbeaten, with a perfect 14-0 record.  The gym was packed with enthusiastic fans, one side all dressed in red and the other side in blue.  Strategy played a big part in the outcome and even the coin toss was important.  The first nine bouts of the evening were hard fought, exciting matches and the place was electric.  In the end, the Rams were able to come out on top, winning 9 of the 14 bouts to take the 37-24 victory and knock the Huskies from the ranks of undefeated.


Jake Sweitzer vs Devin Wilhelm, another great Ram win!



Alec Horner gets the pin we needed with 5 seconds remaining

The action started at 120 and the chess match was on.  We decided to bump Nate Tasker (113) to wrestle the first match and the move paid off.  Tasker was able to score a 4-1 decision over the bigger Husky to get Southern on the board first.  Next up was Jake Sweitzer, who also pulled off a huge win for the Rams, defeating Devin Wilhelm 7-6 to bring the team score to 6-0.  Northern picked up a decision at 132 to close the gap to 6-3.

At 138, the chess match continued.  We sent out Alec Horner in a "must win" match and he came through in a big way, earning a pin with only 5 seconds left.  The bumping up continued as Devan Hamrick scored a decision at 145 and Jimmy Schwab earned a major decision at 152 to bring the team score to 19-3 in favor of the Rams.  As nice as it was to have a 19-3 lead, we knew we had to win more matches to finish off the Huskies.  Northern picked up a win at 160 to tighten things up a bit.

 

Jimmy Schwab with a major decision

Next up was a huge match at 170 with sophomore Joey Embleton facing senior Kyle Beard.  Both wrestlers are having great seasons and with the entire match hanging in the balance, Embleton rose to the occasion and dominated Beard for all six minutes to earn an impressive 7-2 win.  With the team score now 22-6, we knew we needed one more win to close the deal.  At 182, we sent out Patrick Duggan in a pivotal match and he was able to score a late, match winning takedown to put the contest out of reach and clinch the victory for the Rams over the Huskies.

Devan Hamrick in control as usual

Northern was able to win three in a row at 195, 220 and 285 to bring the team score to 25-24, but with a forfeit awaiting us at 113, it was just not quite enough for the Huskies.  Brison Dixon made quick work of his bout a 106, pinning his opponent in the first period.  Evan Paugh was given the forfeit at 113 and the match was over with the Rams victorious for the 15th time in a row.

Here are some interesting and exciting facts about the Rams and last night's match.  Our lineup against Northern consisted of 5 freshmen, 4 sophomores, 3 juniors and only 2 seniors.  Look out!  Also, Devan Hamrick moved to 35-0 on the season and now has 149 career wins.  We have 9 wrestlers with more than 20 wins this season and 8 with more than 25 wins.

Joey Embleton dominates Kyle Beard

Next up for Southern is our annual match against the Williamsport Wildcats.  This year the Rams will travel off the mountain on Saturday for an afternoon contest with wrestling set to begin at 1pm at Williamsport High School.  Photos courtesy of Bev Rasel.

Southern 37 - Northern 24

106 - Brison Dixon (SG) pins Nick Opel (NG) 1:21
113 - Evan Paugh (SG) via forfeit
120 - Nate Tasker (SG) dec Jarrett Kelly (NG) 4-1
126 - Jake Sweitzer (SG) dec Devin Wilhelm (NG) 7-6

Patrick Duggan clinches the win for Southern

132 - Tyler Thomas (NG) dec Jace Guy (SG) 9-5
138 - Alec Horner (SG) pins Richard Ravenscroft (NG) 5:55
145 - Devan Hamrick (SG) dec Luke Lowery (NG) 5-2
152 - Jimmy Schwab (SG) m dec Jordon Grove (NG) 14-3
160 - Brysan Day (NG) dec Corey Horner (SG) 4-3
170 - Joey Embleton (SG) dec Kyle Beard (NG) dec 7-2
182 - Patrick Duggan (SG) dec Sam Beeman (NG) 5-4
195 - James Lewis (NG) pins Hunter Park (SG) :32
220 - Riley Brick (NG) pins Scotty Tichnell (SG) 1:42
285 - Ben Beeman (NG) pins Cole Sweitzer (SG) 5:01