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Of note: Chambersburg crowned 4 individual champions, the same number as Waynesboro, and edged the Indians 191-180 in the team standings ... The Trojans' Jimmy Hughes (125) and Chase Wenger (140) became four-time county tournament champions ... Shippensburg and Greencastle-Antrim each had 2 champions and James Buchanan and Mercersburg Academy had one each.
MERCERSBURG -- Heading into the fifth and final round of the Franklin County Wrestling Tournament on Monday night, Chambersburg led Waynesboro by 18 points in the team standings.
But neither Trojan coach Doug Rine nor Indian coach Eric Mowen considered that lead to be insurmountable.
Indeed, Waynesboro steadily cut into the lead as the round unfolded.
But Chambersburg won two of the five final matchups against the Indians -- Chase Wenger at 140 pounds and Dawson Peck at 215 -- to hold onto its advantage and win the team title by 11 points, 191-180.
"That was a big team goal," Trojan coach Doug Rine said. "I didn't feel that good going into the last round because we had some tough matchups and I thought they had an advantage in the 3 vs. 4 matches."
Mowen said, "We were in good shape ... on paper. But we just didn't finish well in the final round and that's what we had to do."
Chambersburg ended up with four champions. Tanner Shoap (103) and Jimmy Hughes (125) took first, as well as Wenger and Peck. For Hughes, who earned a bonus point with a major decision
Wenger said, "I probably feel about as good about both wins. It's always nice to win as a team, and I think winning four titles is a neat accomplishment, too."
For the Indians, Jacob Smith (112), Trey Andree (135), Jesse Mowen (171) and Dan Mazzei (189) were victorious.
Greencastle-Antrim, with champions in Dylan Schaeffer (160) and Denton Ensminger (285), nosed out Shippensburg by six points for third place. The Greyhounds had a pair of champions, Ben McCurdy at 119 and Taran Hockeberry at 145.
James Buchanan came up with one winner, Todd Meyers at 130, to place fifth, and Mercersburg Academy was sixth with a champion in Bobby Burg at 152.
Waynesboro had already won the first two head-to-head matchups with Chambersburg (Smith beat Colten Arnold 8-2 and Andree defeated Alex Duke 7-4) when Wenger matched up with Tyler Warner, who had won 11 straight bouts.
After a scoreless first period, Warner chose neutral. It backfired when Wenger hit a takedown. In the third, Wenger escaped and got another takedown and went on to win 5-1.
The Indians came back, though, when Jesse Mowen was a 1-0 winner over Chambersburg's Dalton Daywalt at 171. The only point came in the second period when Daywalt gave Mowen an escape.
The final matchup of the two rivals came at 215 between Peck and the Indians' Shane McFerren at 215, who was 22-0. In an earlier dual Peck had fallen 5-3 to McFerren, but this time he came out a 7-4 victor.
Peck said, "He got me in a five-point move early in that last match and he's tough to come back on. He got the first takedown this time, too, but I thought I still had a shot to come back."
Before the first period ended, Peck escaped and took McFerren down for a 3-2 lead. After trading reversals, Peck reversed again for a 7-4 lead after two and he rode McFerren the entire third period.
"That was a huge match," Rine said -- he was right because it clinched the team title. "Dawson is hard to score on, so when he got that escape and takedown, those points were golden."
The most balanced weight at the top was 119, where McCurdy, the Indians' Richie Scott and JB's Trevor Meyers all went 4-1. Scott edged Meyers 4-2, with all the points coming in the first period; McCurdy pinned Scott in 4:55 and Meyers decisioned McCurdy 8-2.
McCurdy was declared champion because he scored more team points, and Scott took second because of his win over Meyers.
There was also a tiebreaker at 189 for second place. Nathan Dick of the Rockets, Todd DeWalt of G-A and Mercersburg's John Sanfillipo each went 3-2, but Dick had more team points.
Greencastle's Tyler Ezolt suffered his first loss of the season after 23 wins when the Blue Storm's Burg beat him 2-1 at 152. Ezolt led 1-0 after two, but Burg scored a quick reversal and rode him out.
Notes: Hockenberry scored the only pin of the final round between No. 1 and 2 seeds, in 5:06 over Chambersburg's Charles Hicks ... Ten of the 14 No. 1 seeds won titles ... Ensminger was pinned by the Indians' Marvin Gaskill on Thursday at 285, but handed him a 5-2 loss Monday.
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Ed Gotwals may be reached at 262-4755 and egotwals@publicopinionnews.com.
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Franklin Co. Tournament
Team Standings
1.Chambersburg 191; 2.Waynesboro 180; 3.Greencastle-Antrim 116; 4.Shippensburg 110; 5.James Buchanan 82; 6.Mercersburg Academy 56.
Individual Results
103 -- 1.Tanner Shoap (C), 5-0; 2.Jared Furry (S), 4-1
112 -- 1.Jacob Smith (W), 5-0; 2.Colten Arnold (C), 4-1
119 -- 1.Ben McCurdy (S), 4-1; 2.Richie Scott (W), 4-1; 3.Trevor Meyers (JB), 4-1 (McCurdy won on third tiebreaker, most team points; Scott beat Meyers head-to-head to claim second)
125 -- 1.Jimmy Hughes (C), 5-0; 2.Jonah Smith (W), 4-1
130 -- 1.Todd Meyers (JB), 5-0; 2.Ian Hammond (C), 4-1
135 -- 1.Trey Andree (W), 5-0; 2.Alex Duke (C), 4-1
140 -- 1.Chase Wenger (C), 5-0; 2.Tyler Warner (W), 4-1
145 -- 1.Taran Hockenberry (S), 5-0; 2.Charles Hicks (C), 4-1
152 -- 1.Bobby Burg (MA), 5-0; 2.Tyler Ezolt (GA), 4-1
160 -- 1.Dylan Schaeffer (GA), 5-0; 2.Irving Lambert (C), 4-1
171 -- 1.Jesse Mowen (W), 5-0; 2.Dalton Daywalt (C), 4-1
189 -- 1.Dan Mazzei (W), 5-0; 2.Nathan Dick (JB), 3-2 (Todd DeWalt, G-A, and John Sanfillipo, MA, also finished 3-2, Dick won by tiebreaker, most team points)
215 -- 1.Dawson Peck (C), 5-0; 2.Shane McFerren (W), 4-1
285 -- 1.Denton Ensminger (GA), 5-0; 2.Marvin Gaskill (W), 4-1
