Regional Rout

Wednesday evening was a big night in the Ram Arena as the Southern Rams played host to the 2019 1A West Regional Dual Meet Championships.  Also, thanks to an earlier weather cancellation, it was Senior Night for the home team.  Before honoring the seniors, we wrestled the semifinal round of the duals where we faced off against Smithsburg and Mountain Ridge squared off against Boonsboro.

The match against the Leopards started at 170 where we moved Declan McCann into that roster spot for the evening.  Since it was senior night, it was our plan to get all seniors matches in front of their family and friends and their home crowd.  This meant moving the line-uo around to make room for everyone.  The heavier weight was no problem for McCann as he registered a tech fall to start a big nigh of big scores.  Senior, Nathan Sweitzer accepted a forfeit at 182 and Hunter Park followed with a first period pin at 195 and we were off to the races.  Chris Mersing stepped in at 220 and won a major decision and senior Cole Sweitzer scored a pin in only 19 seconds.  Our lead was 27-0 going into the lower weight classes.

Aiden Schwab was given a forfeit and Colum McCann scored a first period fall to give the host school a 39-0 lead.  Southern and Smithsburg traded decisions at 120 and 126.  At 132, senior Nate Tasker won by fall in only 32 seconds and senior Evan Paugh was given a forfeit at 138.  The Rams lead stood at 54-3.  At 145, junior Jake Sweitzer took the mat in search of his 100th career victory.  He battled a tough opponent for all three periods but was in control throughout and came away with a 10-1 major decision to capture his milestone victory.

Senior Michal Moon took the spot at 152 and faced Smithsburg's best wrestler.  Senior Jace Guy finished the first round at 160, earning a major decision and bringing the final team score to 62-9 in favor of the home standing Southern Rams.  In the other semifinal match, the Boonsboro Warriors came storming back from a big deficit to know off the second seeded Miners from Mt. Ridge to set up the final match up between Southern and Boonsboro.

Before the finals began, we honored our senior wrestlers, the senior cheerleaders, our senior National Anthem singer and all our wrestlers who reached milestones this season.  You can read all about it on our blog by following this link: https://ramtough.blogspot.com/2019/02/super-seniors.html

The final match vs Boonsboro started at 182 pound weight class where junior Cole Baker got the scoring started with a second period fall.  Senior Nathan Sweitzer was awarded a forfeit at 195 and senior Hunter Park won by pin at 220 and the Rams were in control early.   After Cole Sweitzer was given a forfeit, Aiden Schwab won by tech fall, Colum McCann won by pin and Brogan Kealy was awarded a forfeit and the Rams had a commanding 41-0 lead.

The next three bouts finished the Warriors off as Joey McComas and Nate Tasker won by pin and Elisha Skipper won a decision and Southern was up 56-0 and the scoring was far from over.  Jake Sweitzer and Jace Guy added first period falls and Declan McCann decked his opponent in the third period to make the team score 74-0 going into the final bout.  Boonsboro was able to win their only bout of the match at 170 to bring the final team score to 74-6 in favor of the Southern Rams.

By virtue of winning the Regional Duals, the Southern Rams have earned a return trip the the State Dual Meet Championships that will be held at North Point High School in Waldorf, MD this Saturday, January 9th.  Wrestling begins at noon with the state finals scheduled to begin at 4pm.  The Southern Rams are now a perfect 36-0 on the season and a shooting for a second straight 1A state championship.

Southern 62 - Smithsburg 9

106 - Aiden Schwab (SG) via forfeit
113 - Colum McCann (SG) pins Luke Ellis (SM) 1:14
120 - Shane Hovermale (SM) dec Brogan Kealy (SG) 5-0
126 - Joey McComas (SG) dec Josh Hood (SM) 7-2
132 - Nate Tasker (SG) pins Cody Burras (SM) :32
138 - Evan Paugh (SG) via forfeit
145 - Jake Sweitzer (SG) m dec Brendan Mislan 10-1 **100**
152 - Josh Atkinson (SM) pins Michael Moon (SG) :59
160 - Jace Guy (SG) m dec Keenan Atkinson (SM) 14-1
170 - Declan McCann (SG) tech Noah Grossnickle (SM) 15-0
182 - Nathan Sweitzer (SG) via forfeit
195 - Hunter Park (SG) pins Devon Gross (SM) :55
220 - Chris Mersing (SG) m dec Austin Smith (SM) 8-0
285 - Cole Sweitzer (SG) pins Anthony Herall (SM) :19

Southern 74 - Boonsboro 6

106 - Aiden Schwab (SG) tech Brandon Longerbeam (BO) 17-2
113 - Colum McCann (SG) pins Sean Rinebolt (BO) 2:35
120 - Brogan Kealy (SG) via forfeit
126 - Joey McComas (SG) pins Hunter Ballentine (BO) 1:42
132 - Nate Tasker (SG) pins Noah Phillips (BO) 1:52
138 - Elisha Skipper (SG) dec Landon Cunningham (BO) 3-2
145 - Jake Sweitzer (SG) pins Justin Thompson (BO) 1:50
152 - Jace Guy (SG) pins Colten Zang (BO) :20
160 - Declan McCann (SG) pins Jon Grimm (BO) 4:48
170 - Max Christ (BO) pins Hunter Sanders (SG) 2:44
182 - Cole Baker (SG) pins Ethan Troccola (BO) 3:06
195 - Nathan Sweitzer (SG) via forfeit
220 - Hunter Park (SG) pins Keegan Kidwiler (BO) 2:47
285 - Cole Sweitzer (SG) via forfeit