Font ResizeThat's about how close Chambersburg came to beating Mechanicsburg and earning its first-ever District 3 Team Wrestling Championship berth Thursday night.
The Trojans battled back from a 16-0 deficit to hold a 27-16 lead with four bouts left. But the Wildcats swept all four to pick up a 29-27 victory in a wildly entertaining Mid Penn Colonial Division dual meet.
"We thought we were in pretty good shape," Chambersburg coach Doug Rine said. "But against good teams you can't take anything for granted."
Mechanicsburg coach Roger Barrick said, "After 125, I thought we were done."
Ian Hammond had just pulled out a 4-2 win over the Wildcats' Aaron Davis on the strength of two third-period nearfalls, the last with 15 seconds left. That win gave the Trojans a 27-16 lead.
Better yet, Chambersburg had three senior captains lined up for the next three bouts, needing, as it turned out, just one more win.
Rine said, "I felt pretty good with an 11-point lead and those three kids up next."
First up, at 130, was Jimmy Hughes, Chambersburg's all-time career wins leader.
He started strong against Josh Thomson, getting the initial takedown. But Thomson managed an escape near the end of the period to trail 2-1. In the second, Hughes rode Thomson well until the final few seconds, when he escaped again
"Jimmy still had in a whizzer and I didn't see any loss of control," Rine said.
Still, tied 2-2 and down for the third, all Hughes needed was an escape. But Thomson was tough on top and Hughes was warned for stalling with 1:25 left. With 29 seconds remaining, Hughes was nailed again, giving Thomson a 3-2 lead. Hughes nearly escaped at the end, but Thomson hung on for a huge upset.
Barrick said, "A win like that really picks up your team and opens the door. You can see what it did for us mentally, and for them."
What it did was give the Wildcats hope where they seemingly had none.
At 135, Mitchell Ramsey hit a quick switch to begin the second period, then tilted Chambersburg's Alex Duke for three more and eventually won 7-2.
At 140, the Trojans' Chase Wenger got the first takedown and put Joey Krulock in his signature cradle. But Krulock was able to break the hold and reverse Wenger to his back for a 5-2 lead. He won 7-2 and brought Mechanicsburg to within 27-25.
"Chase tried to force the cradle by rocking across his own back, but this kid was able to slip through it," Rine said.
The heavily-favored Rustin Barrick then came through with a 14-4 major decision, thanks to six takedowns, over the Trojans' Charles Hicks to win the match. The best chance Hicks had was to catch Barrick and he came close to a headlock in the second period.
The Wildcats were dominant in the first four bouts, taking a pin, a major and two decisions to lead 16-0. In those bouts, Chambersburg scored no points other than escapes.
But starting with Dawson Peck at 215, the tide changed dramatically.
Peck cradled Errick Pfuhl for a pin with 30 seconds left, and Ean Starr followed with a 7-2 win at 285 on the strength of a five-point reversal in the second period.
Tanner Shoap then racked up a fall at 103 in just 1:23 and Colten Arnold notched a wild 11-8 win at 112. Arnold was docked for four penalty points and trailed 8-7 after two. But he reversed Scott Boova by manuevering into a cradle and got back points to boot with 55 seconds left.
Ben Heckman then pinned Kyle Shuler in 1:26 with a tight arm bar to keep the Trojans rolling.
"I was pretty sure we would come back from being down early," Heckman said. "We had a lot of confidence. I knew I needed a pin and once I turned him, I thought I had it pretty tight."
Roger Barrick said, "Chambersburg is a very good, balanced team. We'd heard all season long how good they were, so we knew tonight would be a battle all the way. These are fun matches."
A lot more fun on the winning side, for sure.
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Ed Gotwals may be reached at 262-4755 and egotwals@publicopinionnews.com.
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Mechanicsburg 29
Chambersburg 27
152 -- Zach Thomson (M) p Aaron Harshman, 3:29
160 -- Will Sgrignoli (M) d Steven Wilmot, 4-2
171 -- Twon Mundorf (M) md Dalton Daywalt, 13-0
189 -- Bryton Barr (M) d Louis Yvelle, 11-4
215 -- Dawson Peck (C) p Errick Pfuhl, 5:30
285 -- Ean Starr (C) d Sawyer Mundorf, 7-2
103 -- Tanner Shoap (C) p Michael Crosson, 1:23
112 -- Colten Arnold (C) d Scott Boova, 11-8
119 -- Ben Heckman (C) p Kyle Shuler, 1:26
125 -- Ian Hammond (C) d Aaron Davis, 4-2
130 -- Josh Thomson (M) d Jimmy Hughes, 3-2
135 -- Mitchell Ramsey (M) d Alex Duke, 7-2
140 -- Joey Krulock (M) d Chase Wenger, 7-2
145 -- Rustin Barrick (M) md Charles Hicks, 14-4
Jr. high: Faust 66, Mechanicsburg 23. Tigers finished up their dual meet season with a win to finish 10-5. Max Courtney (110), Dylan Hobert (130), Taylor Tolbert (165), unbeaten Dontez King (185) and Devon Williams (210) had pins for Faust.
Mechanicsburg 29, Chambersburg 27
Of note: The Wildcats zipped to a 16-0 lead, then the Trojans scored 27 straight points ... But Mechanicsburg swept the final 4 bouts to win ... Dawson Peck (215), Tanner Shoap (103) and Ben Heckman (112) had pins for Chambersburg.
Records: The Trojans (10-5, 5-3 MPC) wrestle Feb. 6 in the Franklin County Tournament at Mercersburg Academy, 10 ... The Wildcats are 12-2 (6-2 MPC) and will wrestle in the District 3 Tournament, TBA.
