Mat Thriller
Williamstown edges Caldwell 35-34 in tri-wrestling meetBy Kevin Pierson, kpierson@mariettatimes.com
Giving up a trio of forfeits, each match they wrestled had the potential for key points for the Williamstown Yellowjackets.
Williamstown needed every single one of them, as the 'Jackets recorded key pins and held off Caldwell in the heavy weight classes to claim a 35-34 win over the Redskins.
The Yellowjackets then followed that tight performance up with a commanding 60-12 win over Belpre as the host 'Jackets claimed the match crown in a tri-meet at Williamstown High School Wednesday night.
"When you wrestle these guys right here (Caldwell and Belpre), if you can go 2-0 you've got a pretty good team," said Williamstown wrestling coach Dennie Uhl.
Against the Redskins, Williamstown needed every kid on the team to step up and wrestle well to overcome forfeits at 130, 135 and 140.
Williamstown got just that as Cody Kelley, Zach Zide, Joe Palm and Mark Board picked up important pins for the 'Jackets, which enabled them to overcome a late charge from Caldwell.
"I think we battled. I think Williamstown has a real nice team," said Caldwell wrestling coach Dustin Robison. "They've got veteran kids. We gave up some six points in pins and we didn't get enough ourselves."
Down 24-9 after the three forfeits, Williamstown roared back into competition with Aaron Jones picking up a tech fall over the Redskins' Caleb VanMeter at 145 and Tyler George drawing the lone forfeit out of Caldwell at 152.
Those two scores closed the deficit to just 24-20 with only five matches to go.
Palm's pin of Nick Hummerich at 160 and Board's pin of Chance Stoffel gave the Yellowjackets a surprising lead, and they held on for all they were worth, overcoming the 18 points lost to forfeits.
"I thought we might be able to win more matches, but I didn't expect to win the duel because of the forfeits," Uhl said.
Suddenly trailing 32-24 with only three matches to go, Caldwell turned to Pat Pickenpaugh to take the 189-pound match and allow senior standout Seth Todd to bump up a class to 215.
"We had to bump him (Todd) up there because we had to win those last three matches to win the duel," Robison said.
Pickenpaugh responded, claiming a 13-2 major decision over Michael DeSiano to bring Caldwell within four points.
Needing a win, Todd battled for all he was worth against the 'Jackets Matt Hendrickson, but an ankle injury suffered during the past football season cropped up and limited the Redskin star, leading to a pair of take downs in the third round to give Hendrickson a 6-2 decision.
"It was nice to see them battle through tough matches and battle when they were losing," Uhl said.
Caldwell's Timmy Schenkel moved up from 215 to 285 and responded with a pin of Doug Walters to set the final score, 35-34 in favor of Williamstown.
"Our conditioning was where I wanted it to be this time of year and our technique was better," Uhl said.
While the Caldwell and Williamstown match was a thriller, the match against the youthful Golden Eagles was not so much as Caldwell took a 61-6 win over Belpre and Williamstown took a 60-18 win over the Golden Eagles.
A roster full of young grapplers limited Belpre against the veteran Caldwell and Williamstown teams as Phillip Wiggers pin of Caldwell's Stoffel and Anthony Wallace's pin of the 'Jackets Michael DeSiano were the lone matches Belpre won on the night.
Belpre also picked up a pair of forfeits against Williamstown.
Defending their home turf, the 'Jackets have room for improvement as do the Redskins and Wednesday night's match highlighted areas for each team.
"The only way you can get better is to wrestle good competition and they exposed some weaknesses," Uhl said. "I tip my hat to them. We've got to get focused and get back in the wrestling room," Robison said.
Caldwell 61, Belpre 6
112: Jeremy Border (C) pinned Derrick Davis (B) 0:40
119: Brandy Waller (C) pinned Robbie Postlewaite (B) 2:34
125: Zac Cline (C) pinned Bryce Kesterson (B) 2:45
130: Chris Lamp (C) win by forfeit
135: Jacob Border (C) 13-0 major dec. Todd Packard (B)
140: Jared Leasure (C) pinned Jacob Sprigg (B) 3:26
145: Caleb VanMeter (C) 4-2 dec. Chance Jones (B) OT
160: Nick Hummerich (C) pinned Lee Parker (B) 0:27
171: Phillip Wiggers (B) pinned Chance Stoffel (C) 1:42
189: Seth Todd (C) pinned Anthony Wallace (B) 1:05
215: Timmy Schenkel (C) win by forfeit
285: Stephon Pulton (C) win by forfeit
Williamstown 35,
Caldwell 34
112: Jeremy Border (C) pinned Bret MacIver (W) 3:02
119: Cody Kelley (W) pinned Brandy Waller (C) 1:04
125: Zach Zide (W) 9-3 dec. Zac Cline (C)
130: Chris Lamp (C) win by forfeit
135: Jacob Border (C) win by forfeit
140: Jared Leasure (C) win by forfeit
145: Aaron Jones (W) 15-0 tech fall Caleb VanMeter (C)
152: Tyler George (W) win by forfeit
160: Joe Palm (W) pinned Nick Hummerich (C) 1:57
171: Mark Board (W) pinned Chance Stoffel (C) 2:16
189: Pat Pickenpaugh (C) 13-2 major dec. Michael DeSiano (W)
215: Matt Hendrickson (W) 6-2 dec. Seth Todd (C)
285: Timmy Schenkel (C) pinned Doug Walters (W) 3:46
Exhibitions: Bryce McKee (C) pinned Chris McDuffy (W); Cole Haas (C) pinned McDuffy (W)
Williamstown 60,
Belpre 18
112: Bret MacIver (W) pinned Derrick Davis (B) 1:14
119: Cody Kelley (W) pinned Robbie Postlewaite (B) 3:24
125: Zach Zide (W) pinned Bryce Kesterson (B) 4:13
135: Todd Packard (B) win by forfeit
140: Jacob Sprigg (B) win by forfeit
145: Aaron Jones (W) pinned Chance Jones (B) 0:25
152: Tyler George (W) win by forfeit
160: Joe Palm (W) pinned Lee Parker (B) 3:52
171: Mark Board (W) pinned Phillip Wiggers (B) 3:40
189: Anthony Wallace (B) pinned Michael DeSiano (W) 1:00
215: Matt Hendrickson (W) win by forfeit
285: Doug Walters (W) win by forfeit
