Cross-County Clash



Coach Rush congratulates Josh King during senior night

Saturday, January 31st was Senior Night at Southern High School as the Rams honored the wrestlers in the class of 2015.  Seniors Dalton Cooper, David Lewis and Josh King were honored in a ceremony prior to the night's action.  Senior John Mayne was unable to attend due to a prior commitment.  By the end of the evening, all three seniors in attendance were victorious in their bouts against Northern.

 

For the second night in a row, the young Southern Rams took on an unbeaten team in front of the home crowd in the Ram Arena in Oakland.  On Saturday, the 10-0 Northern Huskies made the trip to Southern to try and keep their


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season perfect.  The Rams fell short on Friday against Williamsport but were hopeful the match against Northern would end differently.  The Huskies were weakened by the loss of three wrestlers who were not with the team for disciplinary reasons.

 

The match began at 220 with Southern and Northern trading forfeits in the top two classes.  The first bout wrestled was at 106 with Dixon and Wilhelm meeting for the 4th time of the season.  Once again, Wilhelm came out on top with a pin to give the Huskies a 12-6 lead.  Steven Yutzy also scored a pin for Northern to extend the lead and when Southern's Jake Sweitzer dropped a close decision at 120, the Rams were in a hole at 21-6.

 

Senior Josh King with his 60th career win

Devan Hamrick took the mat at 126 for his third meeting of the season with Lane Rounds.  The two wrestlers had split their earlier bouts but on Saturday, Hamrick dominated with an 8-0 major decision.  At 132, Josh King scored a first period pin to cut Northern's lead to 21-16.  The Huskies' top wrestler bumped to 138 but was awarded a forfeit as the Rams did a little bumping of their own.

Devan Hamrick dominates

 

Freshman Joey Embleton with a big comeback

A pair of 138 pound wrestlers squared off at 145 with Northern's Luke Lowry squeaking out a 1-0 decision over Jimmy Schwab to put his team on the verge of clinching the team victory with a 30-16 lead.  At 152, Southern's freshman Joey Embleton bumped up from 145 to wrestle one of Northern's senior co-captains.  It was a wild match where Embleton found himself in a hole 8-4 with time winding down.  In a flurry of action, Joey was able to score a reversal and 3 back points to pull off the exciting 9-8 come-from-behind victory, keeping his team alive.

 

Junior Corey Horner with a win by pin

The Huskies extended their lead at 160 with a pin and Southern answered at 170 with Corey Horner scoring a first period fall of his own.  Northern secured their team's victory with a pin at 182 and Dalton Cooper finish the night off by receiving a forfeit in the final bout at 195.  The Northern Huskies defeated the Southern Rams for the third time of the season to remain unbeaten and have likely qualified for the regional duals.

 

Southern's dual meet record stands at 7-4 and still have three challenging matches remaining in the regular season.  The Rams travel to Frostburg on Thursday for a clash with the Mt. Ridge Miners then return home next Saturday to close out the dual meet season with a tri-match against Keyser and Oakdale.

Northern 42 - Southern 31

106 - Devin Wilhelm (NG) pins Brison Dixon (SG) 1:52
113 - Steven Yutzy (NG) pins Zach Burgess (SG) 1:17
120 - Tylor Thomas (NG) dec Jake Sweitzer (SG) 7-2
126 - Devan Hamrick (SG) m dec Lane Rounds (NG) 8-0
132 - Josh King (SG) pins Richard Ravenscroft (NG) 1:25
138 - Justin Opel (NG) via forfeit
145 - Luke Lowry (NG) dec Jimmy Schwab (SG) 1-0
152 - Joey Embleton (SG) dec Connor Spiker (NG) 9-8
160 - Nate Durst (NG) pins Ethan Bittinger (SG) 3:50
170 - Corey Horner (SG) pins AJ Durst (NG)  1:34
182 - Kyle Beard (NG) pins Bernie Sislo (SG) 3:32
195 - Dalton Cooper (SG) via forfeit
220 - David Lewis (SG) via forfeit
285 - Ben Beeman (NG) via forfeit



Senior Night with Dalton Cooper and his family

Clawed

Corey Horner gets the Rams on the board with a pin.

It was a cold, snowy afternoon on the mountaintop, perfect for a clash between the undefeated Williamsport Wildcats and the 7-2 Southern Rams.  The Wildcats made the 2 1/2 hour bus ride through the snow squalls with the intent of keeping their record perfect.  The Rams had other plans.

 

Dalton Cooper picks up a pin for the Rams

The match started at 152 and the 'Cats took a quick lead as their senior captain earned a first period fall.  Southern tied the score at 6 with Corey Horner pinning his opponent at 160.  Williamsport won the next three bouts convincingly to pull ahead of the Rams 23-6 heading into the 220 pound class.  At 220, senior Dalton Cooper won by fall and Williamsport won by fall at 285, bringing the score to 29-12 heading into the lower weights.

 

Hamrick and Beckeley square off

The Wildcats stretched their lead with a pin at 106 and gave up a forfeit at 113 to make the team score 35-18 heading into the marquis match up of the day.  It was a battle of state place-winners and old friends at 120 when Devan Hamrick squared off with Justin Beckeley.  Hamrick was able to score a first period takedown to grab an early lead.  In the second period, Beckeley chose the bottom position and Hamrick was able to ride him out to take the 2-0 lead into the third period.  Hamrick selected bottom and earned a reversal and near fall points to claim the 6-0 victory in a very well wrestled match.

 

Ringy ding dinger, it's a pin by the Kinger

Southern was forced to forfeit at 126 before Josh King scored a second period pin at 132 to bring the team score to 41-27 with two bouts remaining.  At 138, Jimmy Schwab had a rematch against a Williamsport wrestler that he met at the Hub Cup earlier in the month.  It was a tight match throughout, but in the end, Schwab dropped a 2-0 decision.  In the final bout, Williamsport was able to earn a major decision the bring the final score to Williamsport 48 - Southern 27.

 

The Southern Rams are now 7-3 in dual meet competition and face another unbeaten team tonight as the Huskies of Northern Garrett come to town for a 7pm rivalry match on senior night.

Williamsport 48 - Southern 27

106 - Cody Crawford (W) pins Brison Dixon (SG) 1:01
113 - Jake Sweitzer (SG) via Forfeit
120 - Devan Hamrick (SG) dec Justn Beckeley (W) 6-0
126 - Todd Feuerstien (W) via Forfeit
132 - Josh King (SG) pins Coby Brady (W) 3:02
138 - Tanner Canfield (W) dec Jimmy Schwab (SG) 2-0
145 - Jerry Moschel (W) m dec Joey Embleton (SG) 13-0
152 - Sinjin Shoop (W) pins Ethan Bittinger (SG) 1:14
160 - Corey Horner (SG) pins Devan Nalley (W) 1:47
170 - Barry Loeser (W) pins Patrick Duggan (SG) 1:35
182 - Kobe Baker (W) tech Bernie Sislo (SG) 16-1
195 - Austin Keadle (W) pins John Mayne (SG) :27
220 - Dalton Cooper (SG) pins Corey Frey (W) 2:39
285 - Austin Golden (W) pins David Lewis (SG) :22

In JV action, Trenten Friend hooking up the fatal cradle

Rams on a Roll

Brison Dixon pins twice for the Rams

The Southern Rams took the home mats against Fort Hill and Keyser on Wednesday evening for the 4th time in the past week and the outcome was the same, exciting Southern victories.  The Rams have now won 6 dual meets in a row and have extended the record to 7-2 on the season.

 

Corey Horner with 2 pins on the night

On Wednesday, Southern started with Fort Hill in a rematch for an earlier season tournament.  The Rams won easily in the earlier meeting and last night was no different.  Southern built a 35-0 lead by winning the first six bouts and cruised to a 68-9 victory over the Sentinals.  Winning by pin against Fort Hill were John Mayne, Brison Dixon, Jake Sweitzer, Devan Hamrick, Josh King, Ethan Bittinger and Corey Horner.  Dalton Cooper won by tech fall, Jimmy Schwab won by decision and Matt Jones, Bernie Sislo and David Lewis won via forfeit.

 

Devan Hamrick earns win #100

In the second match of the evening, the Rams faced off against a tough Keyser team and the match would prove to be much closer than the first, coming down to the final bout of the evening before the outcome was determined.  The match started at 220 and Keyser was able to jump out to a 12-0 lead by winning the first two bouts by pin.  At 106, Brison Dixon got the Rams on the board with a pin of his own and the ball was rolling.

 

Senior Josh King with another pin

Jake Sweitzer won for a the second time of the night at 113, winning a close decision against Keyser.  Zach Burgess was awarded a forfeit to give the Rams a 15-12 lead heading into the bout at 126.  Devan Hamrick entered the match with 99 career wins and was determined to reach the 100 win mark on his home mats.  The task would not be an easy one as Hamrick was squaring off against one of the Golden Tornado's top wrestlers.  In the end, Devan would dominate in his 100th win, defeating Whitlock 9-4 and extending Southern's lead to 18-12.

 

Jimmy Schwab earns the big 5-0

After Josh King was awarded a forfeit at 132, Jimmy Schwab took the mats in search of a plateau win of his own.  Jimmy, who is only a sophomore, entered the match with 49 wins in search of the big 5-0.  Schwab would also be challenged against a good wrestler but was also able to dominate and win a 5-3 decision.  The Rams lead was 27-12 but Keyser had the heart of their lineup on deck.

 

Dalton Cooper with the decisive pin

Freshman Joey Embleton faced senior Garrett Crites at 145 and wrestled a great match but dropped an 8-0 decision.  After Keyser won the next two bouts by pin, the Rams were behind 28-27 with three matches remaining.  Corey Horner bumped up to 170 and scored a first period pin to give the lead back to the Rams but Keyser retook the lead with a pin of their own at 182.

 

The stage was set for the final bout.  Keyser led 34-33 with Dalton Cooper up for Southern at 195 in the final match of the evening.  Dalton has been in this position before, winning the final match of the night for his team on Monday to clinch a victory for his team over Meyersdale.  Against Keyser, it didn't take long for everyone to realize the outcome would be the same.  Cooper scored the first takedown and went to work to secure the pin.  The fall came in just over 1 minute and the Rams would capture their 7th dual meet on the season with an exciting 39-34 victory.

 

Next up for Southern are the Williamsport Wildcats at home on Tuesday evening, in a match that had originally been scheduled for Jan. 31st but was moved to the 27th.

Southern 68 - Fort Hill 9

106 - Brison Dixon (SG) pins Jacob Diehl (FH) 1:06
113 - Jake Sweitzer (SG) pins Dakota Whitacre (FH) 5:04
120 - Josh Cooper (FH) pins Zach Burgess (SG) 1:12
126 - Devan Hamrick (SG) pins Robert Twigg (FH) :55
132 - Josh King (SG) pins Jacob Harper (FH) 1:44
138 - Jimmy Schwab (SG) dec Tristan Tressler (FH) 8-5
145 - Brad Winter (FH) dec Joey Embleton (SG) 9-7
152 - Ethan Bittinger (SG) pins Jacob Eft (FH) :26
160 - Corey Horner (SG) pins Noah Hillegas (FH) 1:10
170 - Matt Jones (SG) via Forfeit
182 - Bernie Sislo (SG) via Forfeit
195 - John Mayne (SG) pins Sane Atkinson (FH) :37
220 - Dalton Cooper (SG) tf Aaron Spence (FH) 23-5
285 - David Lewis (SG) via Forfeit

Southern 39 - Keyser 34

106 - Brison Dixon (SG) pins Tyler Staggs (K) :40
113 - Jake Sweitzer (SG) dec Bryant Dixon (K) 8-4
120 - Zach Burgess (SG) via Forfeit
126 - Devan Hamrick (SG) dec Ethan Whitlock (K) 9-4
132 - Josh King (SG) via Forfeit
138 - Jimmy Schwab (SG) dec Lanny Johnson (K) 5-3
145 - Garrett Crites (K) dec Joey Embleton (SG) 8-0
152 - Shayden Dougherty (K) pins Ethan Bittinger (SG) 1:21
160 - Beau Horner (K) pins Patrick Duggan (SG) 1:18
170 - Corey Horner (SG) pins Zack Stickley (K) 1:14
182 - Jacob Biser (K) pins Matt Jones (SG) 3:59
195 - Dalton Cooper (SG) pins Luke Mayhew (K) 1:02
220 - Mark Clark (K) pins David Lewis (SG) 1:59
285 - Matthew Stewart (K) pins Jake Zimmerman (SG) 1:49



Jake Sweitzer with two wins against tough opponents