Heavyweight Title

Ram fans were in the house!!

Tuesday evening's match between the Southern Rams and the Williamsport Wildcats had all the makings of a heavyweight title fight.  Each team is highly ranked in the state of Maryland.  Each has a number of highly ranked individual wrestlers.  Each team is full of tough kids backed up back tough JV wrestlers.  The match ups were set and everyone knew we were in for and exciting, very competitive evening of wrestling under the spotlight in the Ram Arena.

Aiden Schwab vs Zach Starr, two of Maryland's best

The match started at 106 in a bout that featured two top ranked wrestlers.  For Southern, it was the 8th ranked Aiden Schwab who's record was 28-3.  Williamsport sent out 20th ranked Zach Starr who was 34-1 on the season.  Starr got out to an early 6-1 lead but Schwab battled back.  After scoring 2 near fall points in the 2nd period, the Ram wrestler was down 6-3 heading into the 3rd.  Starr was in the top position but gave up an early escape.  Schwab was down 2 with time running down but was able to score a takedown to send the match into overtime.  In the extra period, Schwab shot and scored to pull out the victory and give his team an early 3-0 lead.

Senior Nate Tasker in control

Wiliamsport's Zaden Meyer scored a major decision at 113 and Southern's Brogan Kealy won by decision at 120.  At 126, senior co-captain Nate Tasker picked up a big pin for the Rams to stretch the lead to 12-4.  At 132, Southern's Elisha Skipper and Williamsport's Will Custer battled tough for 6 minutes with Skipper coming out on top of a 4-2 decision.  The bout at 138 was just as close with the Wildcats' Malaki Cunningham scoring a 7-6 decision.  Southern led 15-7 after 6 bouts.

Jace Guy with another pin.

The bout at 145 featured two more state ranked wrestlers.  For Southern, it was 9th ranked Jake Sweitzer (29-2) and for Williamsport, it was 17th ranked Darby Bryant (26-9).  In this match, Sweitzer built a 10-0 lead and finished off Bryant with a 12-4 major decision, 4 valuable points for the team and his 30th win on the season.  Jace Guy did what Jace Guy does, scoring a pin at 152 to add to Southern's lead, bringing the score to 25-7.

At 160, Southern's Declan McCann battled tough against the 8th ranked Nate Anderson (29-6).  In the end, the match was decided on a locked hands call with Anderson coming out on top 2-1.  The bout at 170 was just as close between Hunter Sanders and Durise Morton.  The last time these two met, Sanders came out on top in the clinching bout at the Musselman tournament.  This time, Morton was able to cling to a 1-0 lead and fought off a late takedown attempt by Sanders that didn't quite beat the final buzzer.  Williamsport scored a fall at 182 and the Rams lead was cut to 25-19 with three bouts remaining.

King Cole working for the pin

At 195, senior Hunter Park built a 7-0 lead before scoring the fall early in the second period to give the Rams a 12 point lead with 2 bouts remaining.  Williamsport won by pin at 220 and it all came down to the heavyweight bout between undefeated and 7th ranked Tayquon Johnson from Williamsport and 14th ranked Cole Sweitzer (29-2) for the Rams.  Johnson scored a first period takedown to take a 2-0 lead.  The two giants battled to a scoreless 2nd period and Sweitzer chose the top position in the third with the goal of turning his opponent and earning the win.  Despite Sweitzer's best efforts, Johnson would not budge from the bottom and held on the for the 2-0 victory bringing the final team score to 31-28 in favor of the undefeated Southern Rams.

The Rams take their 32-0 record on the road Thursday for a match with the University Hawks in Morgantown.  JV wrestling begins at 5:30 and varsity starts at 7pm.

Southern 31 - Williamsport 28

106 - Aiden Schwab (SG) dec Zach Starr (W) 8-6 ot
113 - Zaden Meyer (W) m dec Colum McCann (SG) 10-0
120 - Brogan Kealy (SG) dec Brandan Myers (W) 6-3
126 - Nate Tasker (SG) pins Shimon Aguayo (W) 3:36
132 - Elisha Skipper (SG) dec Will Custer (W) 4-2
138 - Malaki Cunningham (W) dec Joey McComas (SG) 7-6
145 - Jake Sweitzer (SG) m dec Darby Bryant (W) 12-4
152 - Jace Guy (SG) pins Tyler Crain (W) 1:22
160 - Nate Anderson (W) dec Declan McCann (SG) 2-1
170 - Durise Morton (W) dec Hunter Sanders (SG) 1-0
182 - Alex McCray (W) pins Cole Baker (SG) 4:43
195 - Hunter Park (SG) pins Bleron Rugi (W) 2:19
220 - Brandon Oyster (W) pins Chris Mersing (SG) 1:23
285 - Tayqun Johnson (W) dec Cole Sweitzer (SG) 2-0