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Chambersburg outlasts State College for 1st mat win


CHAMBERSBURG - The Chambersburg wrestling team had plenty of reasons to smile Thursday night.

The Trojans earned their first dual meet victory of the season by handing State College a 38-27 Mid Penn Commonwealth Division defeat at CASHS Field House.

It was also the first win for Chambersburg coach Matt Mentzer.

And Trojan senior Garrett Kyner was honored before the match for having won his 100th career victory last week in the Trojan Wars tournament.

Mentzer said, "That's my first win, so it'll always be special. But it was even better because we got to honor Blue (Kyner), plus coach Dunsmore was here tonight, too."

John Dunsmore was Mentzer's coach at Big Spring.

In a match that had a total of five forfeits, two of the three biggest bouts wrestled went in Chambersburg's favor. The Little Lions (3-2, 1-2 MPC) had things set up the way they wanted, and won the first of those key bouts at 145, a 1-0 nod for Dalton Barger over Drake Brenize. Barger was also to ride Brenize the entire third period.

"We assumed those weights would be pretty important and we had the matchups we wanted," State College coach Ryan Cummins said. "But their guys performed really well."

At 152, the Trojans' Colin Runshaw used a slick counter for a takedown in the first period, and an escape by Ian Barr made it 2-1 after two. Runshaw chose neutral for the third and made it work, catching Barr in a headlock near the edge of the mat for five points on his way to a 9-2 decision.

Mentzer said, "That's why we want those kids to do freestyle and Greco wrestling. Colin got his guy in a position to throw a headlock and he was confident with it. That was five points and broke the match open."

Matt Strunk then came through at 160 with a 5-2 win over Marcel Francis to jump the Trojans' lead to 23-9. Strunk scored a quick takedown, then ensnared Francis in a cradle for three points.

"That cradle gave him a nice cushion and he could wrestle conservatively after that," Mentzer said. "Those two seniors found different ways to win -- Colin on his feet and Matty on top."

Strunk said, "We figured me and Colin had to win so there wouldn't as much stress for the 113-pound match (the last one of the evening). So I knew my match was important. I got the lead and couldn't quite turn him over again in the second period."

Drew Peck took just 12 seconds to rack up a pin at 182, giving the Trojans a 29-18 lead. And when Phillipe Lozius held the Little Lions' Pete Haffner to a 6-4 decision at 220, the match was clinched.

"That was Phillipe's first match of the season and the kid he was wrestling is pretty good," Mentzer said. "He kept it close and had a chance to win at the end."

Spencer Runshaw could have been on the hot seat at 113, but didn't have the pressure of having to win to lift his team. He fell behind 3-0 to Adam Stover before rallying for a 4-3 win on a second-period takedown and third-period reversal.

Kyner raised his career record to 104-31 by scoring a technical fall at 138 in the match's first bout.

"I knew it was coming up early in the season, and it's good to get it over with," said Kyner, who admitted reaching 100 wins was always a career goal. "I wanted to be in that 100-win club; now I'll try to get as many more as I can."

NOTES: Chambersburg is 1-3 (1-3 MPC) ... Cummins said, "They're a good team, but they had a tough schedule to start with." ... Other Trojan wrestlers with at least 100 wins are Garett Hammond, Tanner Shoap, Jimmy Hughes, David Rump, Joey Wilmot and Dawson Peck.

Chambersburg 38, State College 27 

at CASHS Field House

120 — Jacob Pammer (SC) won by forfeit. 126 — Cole Grove (Ch) won by forfeit. 132 — Aaron Rump (Ch) won by forfeit. 138 — Garrett Kyner (Ch) tf Jason Zuech, 18-3, 6:00. 145 — Dalton Barger (SC) d Drake Brenize, 1-0. 152 — Colin Runshaw (Ch) d Ian Barr, 9-2. 160 — Matt Strunk (Ch) d Marcel Francis, 5-2. 170 — Cole Urbas (SC) d Greg Wallace, 6-5. 182 — Drew Peck (Ch) p Isaiah Lose, 0:12. 195 — Cory Dreibelbis (SC) won by forfeit. 220 — Pete Haffner (SC) d Phillipe Lozius, 6-4. 285 — Jack Vandevort (SC) p Brock Over, 0:42. 106 — Seth Runshaw (Ch) won by forfeit. 113 — Spencer Runshaw (Ch) d Adam Stover, 4-3.

Middle school: Chambersburg 47, State College 46 (tie broken on Criteria H).