WRESTLING: Four locals claim gold at Carlisle

CARLISLE -- When Aaron Rump came off the wrestling mat Saturday evening, it was a few minutes before the Chambersburg junior could celebrate his gold medal.

That's because his face was wrapped with layers upon layers of gauze and tape. His nose was bleeding profusely, and he avoided losing by injury default by less than a minute.

At 132 pounds, Rump claimed a 7-3 decision over Garden Spot's Connor Finkey to earn the victory at the 54th annual Carlisle Holiday Wrestling Tournament. He won despite having his face taped up to the point where it was covered from the bottom of his eyes down, with a small hole left for his mouth.

"He was just banging my head hard, and obviously, I started to bleed," Rump said. "It sucked because I couldn't breathe out of my nose. I had to focus on keeping my head in better position, too, because it was kind of pulling my neck down a little bit. But I just had to get through it, grind through it."

Rump was one of four local victors Saturday. Teammate Drew Peck claimed the 195-pound title, while Shippensburg got victories from Chandler Olson (126) and Cameron Tinner (220).

Scoreless after the first period, Rump scored the majority of his points in the second. Finkey started on top, but Rump quickly escaped. He then scored a takedown and a pair of back points before the period's end.

"He was really at risk with losing it on blood time," Trojan coach Matt Mentzer said. "I think it gave him a little urgency to get scoring some points. He hit a real nice duck-under (in the third) to clinch the match. It was a challenge for him, and he handled it very well."

Rump said, "In the beginning of the match, I was just kind of distracted because my nose was bleeding and we kept having to stop the action. Once he took that shot (in the second) and I countered it, I felt like I had position. I was so happy to get the win; I would've been really upset if I didn't."

Peck also walked away quite pleased with himself. He avoided a late scare to defeat Big Spring's Blake Barrick, 3-1. It was Peck's first time winning the Carlisle title, and he did it at 195 pounds -- a weight up from where he usually wrestles.

Peck used an underhook to score a takedown early, and he rode that momentum to the narrow victory.

"I've wrestled him a bunch before, and I knew that he tries to get out of the first period 0-0, grind the match out and win in overtime," Peck said. "I knew that scoring early was important with him because getting that first takedown would get in his head that he wasn't going to get out of the first period scoreless."

With about six seconds left, Barrick shot low on Peck's legs and nearly took him to the mat, but Peck held him off until the clock ran out.

At 220 pounds, Tinner scored a flurry of points early but then also had to hold off his counterpart, Carlisle's Muhamed Alic, in a 7-1 verdict.

"Muhamed is a really good wrestler; he's good from the top and has a nice cradle," Tinner said. "That's sort of why I didn't choose bottom, but I also felt confident on my feet that I could get a couple takedowns. I thought I really got in on my shots, finished my moves and did what I needed to do."

It was Tinner's second gold medal in as many tournaments so far this season.

His teammate, Olson, wanted to avenge last week's loss at the Cumberland Valley Tournament, and he did just that. Olson also scored a takedown in the early going, then had to fight off Bermudian Springs' Austin Clabaugh for a 5-0 decision at 126 pounds.

"The key to that match was just staying in position and wrestling at my pace," Olson said. "He's a tough scrambler, and he's good at catching big-hitting moves. I had to stay in position and make sure the pace was moving the way I wanted it to."

There were several other local highlights. Chambersburg's Garrett Kyner was a bit disappointed with his final match, but he did place second overall. He was defeated by Big Spring's Tucker Brough, and it was a false start against Kyner that cost him a point in a 3-2 decision.

Chambersburg got third-place finishes from Seth Runshaw (pin in 0:43 at 106), Drake Brenize (4-0 at 145) and Greg Wallace (3-1, OT, at 182) . The Trojans finished second in the team standings with 190 points, just 6.5 points behind victor Big Spring.

"We only brought 12 kids, and two of those guys are just getting their first varsity experience this season," Mentzer said. "So, we came with basically 10 kids and put nine of them on the (medal) stand. They hustled, scored points and got some falls this weekend, so I was real pleased with the overall effort."

Cole Forrester also picked up a third-place medal. He won a 5-2 decision at 195 pounds.

Bryan Eckenrode had Greencastle-Antrim's highest finish. He captured fifth place at 106 pounds by pinning Nathan Townsley, of West York, in 4:50.

Carlisle Holiday Wrestling Tournament

Team Standings

1.Big Spring (BS) 196.5, 2.Chambersburg (Chbg) 190, 3.Garden Spot (GS) 148.5, 4.Bermudian Springs (Berm) 144.5, 5.Red Land (RL) 140, 6.Hempfield (Hemp) 117.5, 7.Shippensburg (Ship) 108, 8.Biglerville (Big) 104, 9.West York (WY) 99, 10.Conestoga Valley (CV) 94.5.

Championships

106 — Austin Jones (Ephrata) d Hunter Gregoris (BS), 6-4. 113 — Jared Loose (Hemp) d Spencer Runshaw (Chbg), 6-0. 120 — Barndon Loperfido (Hemp) d Jose Morales (CV), 3-2. 126 — Chandler Olson (Ship) d Austin Clabaugh (Berm), 5-0. 132 — Aaron Rump (Chbg) d Connor Finkey (GS), 7-3. 138 — Tucker Brough (BS) d Garrett Kyner (Chbg), 3-2. 145 — Kiernan Kelly (RL) d Sam Sterner (WY), 4-1. 152 — Scott Cooper (Big) D Ryan Chalifoux (Central Bucks East). 160 — Dan Swarr (GS) d Nate Newberry (Big), 4-1. 170 — Noah Fleshman (Berm) d Tyler Reber (Hemp), 6-2. 182 — Chase Norris (GS) tf Colton Sentz (Big), 16-0. 195 — Drew Peck (Chbg) d Blake Barrick (BS), 3-1. 220 — Cameron Tinner (Ship) d Muhamed Alic (Carlisle), 9-2. 285 — Blaine Yinger (Northeastern) d Brady Linebaugh (Berm), 4-2.

Area third-place matches

106 — Colin Runshaw (Chbg) p Ryan Ressler (RL), 2:43. 145 — Drake Brenize (Chbg) d Tyler Marburger (GS) 4-0. 182 — Greg Wallace (Chbg) d Devin Kruup (CV), 3-1, OT. 195 — Cole Forrester (Ship) d Thomas Weidman (CV), 5-2.

Area fifth-place matches

106 — Bryan Eckenrode (Greencastle-Antrim) p Nathan Townsley (WY), 4:50.  120 — John Adams (Shippensburg) d Cassius Manor (WY), 5-3. 126 — Cole Grove (Chbg) d Thomas Richmond (GA), 7-3. 152 — Colin Runshaw (Chbg) d Kyle Brobst (BS), 2-0. 182 — Garrett Gordon (BS) d Collin Dolbin (Ship), 9-6. 220 — Logan Luckenbaugh (Berm) won via forfeit from Dalton Grace (Chbg). 285 — Hunter Adams (BS) p Nick Kubala (Ship), 0:47.