Senior Saturday

On Saturday afternoon, the Southern Rams hosted the Williamsport Wildcats and the Hyndman Hornets in the final home match of the season.  The Rams also honored five senior wrestlers and there was a special presentation to Jimmy Schwab who had earned his 100th career win earlier this season.

Patrick Duggan gets 2 pins on Saturday

The afternoon began with our annual senior celebration.  Jimmy Schwab, Brison Dixon, Patrick Duggan, Erik Fike and Gunnar Ward were presented framed pictures and flowers for their mothers in honor of their commitment to Southern Wrestling throughout the years.  The complete senior celebration scripts and photos are listed in their entirety below.

"Come back here" says Brison Dixon

After Jimmy Schwab received his plaque commemorating his 100th win, it was time for wrestling to begin.  The first match of the day was against the Williamsport Wildcats who made the snowy trip to Oakland from the Hagerstown area.  Wrestling began at the 138 pound weight class where sophomore Jace Guy took the mat for the Rams.  Jace took an early 5-0 lead and scored a fall in the second period to give Southern a 6-0 lead.  Senior Jimmy Schwab followed up with a second period pin of his own at 145.  Alec Horner scored a fall in under a minute at 152 and the Rams were in control early at 18-0.

Erik Fike with an early takedown

After Brad Davis won by fall at 160, Joe Embleton was awarded a forfeit at 170 and Patrick Duggan pinned his opponent, the rout was on.  The Rams led 36-0 and 25 seconds into Hunter Park's match at 195, the score was quickly 42-0 after a quick pin.  The Rams and Wildcats traded pins at 220 and 285 and the team score was 48-6 heading into the lower weight classes.

Jimmy Schwab continues his winning ways

Brison Dixon continued his winning ways with a 13-0 major decision at 106 and Williamsport won by decision at 113 to make it 52-9 in the Rams favor.  Freshman Jake W Sweitzer won by fall at 120 and Junior Jake E Sweitzer lost by fall in a close match at 126 before Nate Tasker closed it out with a wild 14-8 win in the final bout of the match.  The Rams ended victorious by the score of 61-15 in the day's first match.

Next up was the rematch with the Hyndman Hornets.  Jace Guy started this match as well, but this this time he took the mat in the 145 pound class.  The result was the same, a second period fall.  Jimmy Schwab was awarded a forfeit and Alec Horner pinned again to give Southern an early 18-0 lead.  After Patrick Duggan scored his second pin of the day and Joe Embleton also won by fall, the Rams were well in control.  Hunter Park received a forfeit at 195 to bring the score to 36-0 with a rematch at 220 up next.  In the earlier meeting this season, Scotty Tichnell lost a decision to the Hyndman wrestler, but this day was different.  It was a close match throughout with Tichnell locking up a cradle and scoring the fall in the third period.  Cole Sweitzer added a pin at 285 and the team's lead was 48-0 heading into the low weights.

Brison Dixon and Joey McComas were awarded forfeits at 106 and 113.  Hyndman was able to get a win at 120 and another big rematch was up next at 126.  Jake E Sweitzer lost a decision earlier in the season to Hyndman, but on this day, he was dominate with a 4-0 win.  Nate Tasker was given a forfeit at 132 and Hyndman won by fall at 138 to close out the match.  The final score was 69-12 in Southern's favor and the dream of qualifying for regional duals is still alive.

Southern 61 - Williamsport 15
106 - Brison Dixon (SG) m dec Zayden Meyers (W) 13-0
113 - Bryce Palamar (W) dec Joey McComas (SG) 8-1
120 - Jake W Sweitzer (SG) pins Simone Auguayo (W) 1:04
126 - Cody Crawford (W) pins Jake E Sweitzer (SG) 5:12
132 - Nate Tasker (SG) dec Todd Feuerstein (W) 14-8
138 - Jace Guy (SG) pins Trenton Gross (W) 2:50
145 - Jimmy Schwab (SG) pins Tyler Crain (W) 2:29
152 - Alec Horner (SG) pins Alex McCray (W) :50
160 - Brad Davis (SG) pins Josh Gerber (W) :46
170 - Joe Embleton (SG) via forfeit
182 - Patrick Duggan (SG) pins Belron Ruqi (W) 2:37
195 - Hunter Park (SG) pins Zach Alliger (W) :25
220 - Brandon Oyster (W) pins Scotty Tichnell (SG) 1:12
285 - Cole Sweitzer (SG) pins Janari Carro (W) :52

Southern 69 - Hyndman 12
106 - Brison Dixon (SG) via forfeit
113 - Joey McComas (SG) via forfeit
120 - Brian Dawson (H) pins Jake W Sweitzer (SG) 3:34
126 - Jake E Sweitzer (SG) dec Cameron Gibbner (H) 4-0
132 - Nate Tasker (SG) via forfeit
138 - Cole Pensyl (H) pins Erik Fike (SG) 3:39
145 - Jace Guy (SG) pins Tristan Graeff (H) 3:34
152 - Jimmy Schwab (SG) via forfeit
160 - Alec Horner (SG) pins Gavin Brick (H) :57
170 - Patrick Duggan (SG) pins Owen Leydig (H) 1:27
182 - Joe Embleton (SG) pins Lee Moskey (H) 3:38
195 - Hunter Park (SG) via forfeit
220 - Scotty Tichnell (SG) pins Shawn Fazenbaker (H) 5:08
285 - Cole Sweitzer (SG) pins Hunter Burkett (H) :23

Senior Celebrations

Brison Dixon is the son of Tina Reese and Mikey Dixon and is the grandson of Robert Reese.  Brison has been a three year starter on the wrestling team.  He currently has 97 career wins and has a perfect 34-0 record this season.  Brison also leads the team with 20 pins.  After graduation, Brison plans to attend Garrett College and study to become a welder.  Ladies and gentlemen, Senior Brison Dixon.

Erik Fike is the son of Terry and Janette Fike of Oakland.  Erik is in his second year on the wrestling team and currently has 15 career wins and has nine pins this season.  After graduation, Erik plans to attend Garrett College then transfer to Frostburg State University to pursue a degree in Exercise and Sports Science.  Ladies and gentlemen, senior Erik Fike.

Gunnar Ward is the son of Tracie and Kevin Greene of Oakland.  This is Gunnar's second year on the wrestling team.  He is also very involved in theater, journalism and photography.  During his two years on the wrestling team, Gunnar has lost 50 pounds.  After graduation, Gunnar plans to attend Garrett College then transfer to Frostburg State University to study communications with the dream of becoming a broadcast journalist.  Ladies and gentlemen, senior Gunnar Ward.

Jimmy Schwab is the son of Perry and Sue Schwab of Oakland.  Jimmy has been a starter on the varsity wrestling team for all four years and currently has 116 career wins.  Jimmy is also a four year letterman on the soccer and track teams.  Jimmy was a state qualifier in both wrestling and track last season.  After graduation, Jimmy plans to attend Frostburg State University to pursue a degree in education.  Ladies and gentlemen, senior Jimmy Schwab.

Patrick Duggan is the son of Dan and Susan Duggan of Swanton.  Patrick has been a member of the wrestling team for three seasons.  Patrick has earned 29 wins in his career at Southern.  Patrick is also a letterman in soccer, track and cross-country.  After graduation, Patrick plans to attend college and study business administration with the hopes of opening his own business.  Ladies and gentlemen, senior Patrick Duggan.

On December 16, 2016, senior Jimmy Schwab joined an elite group when he earned his 100th career win.  He became only the 16th wrestler in Southern's history to reach that plateau.  With 116 wins as of today, Jimmy currently ranks 8th in all time wins at Southern.  Coach Taylor is presenting Jimmy with a plaque commemorating this achievement.