Rockets blast Maples in section match
JEFFERSON – The Jefferson-Morgan wrestling squad picked up its first Section 2-AA (2A) victory of the season with a 72-3 triumph over Mapletown Wednesday night.
J-M has won three out of five matches, picking up two at the North Hills Dual over the weekend.
“If we came out on top of a couple of key matches they would be big wins for us,” J-M coach Mike Lesko said referring to the early season losses. “We knew McGuffey had numbers and they were coming down from Triple-A. The kids know it’s a tough loss, but they are not letting it decide their season. We all know we will see them again later in the year and we hope it’s a different outcome.”
There were only six matches contested on the evening, as the Maples (0-2, 0-2) continue to battle the injury bug and will look to have its full line-up back in January.
“Jefferson has been the barometer in this section and in this county for years for everybody,” Mapletown coach Chris Shilk said. “We knew we were missing kids and we wanted to get our kids out there and get them more experience. Our numbers are our numbers and we just have to deal with it. We are seeing where we stand with some kids.”
The section match began at 138 and the Rockets got on the board when Austin Goldsberry collected a pin with two seconds left in the second period.
Mapletown garnered its only points on the night at 145 when Seth Shubert recorded a 7-0 decision over Andrew Eaton.
“Seth is a very technically sound wrestler,” Shilk said. “He always brings a calm demeanor to the mat. Seth weighed in at 134 pounds and we bumped him up to 145 tonight. He was giving up some strength and size, but he never quit and was very tenacious on the mat.”
After a forfeit to Trevor Jamison at 152, J-M rattled off back-to-back pins by Trevor Kniha (160) and Parker Woodring (170).
“We have a couple of first-year senior starters on our team and they know their importance to the team,” Lesko said. “They know there’s no room for error. I think Trevor, Austin and Parker have stepped up. I was really happy that they got pins tonight.”
The Rockets then tallied three straight forfeits to Billy Bowlen (182), Anthony Patterson (195) and Josh Yeager (220).
At 285, Ian Wolfe gave J-M a 48-3 edge with a second period pin at 3:20.
After there was no match at 106, the Rockets ended the match with a first period pin by Gavin Teasdale at 113 and forfeits to Zach Tedrow (113), Brendan Howard (126) and Aaron Mylan (132).
J-M will be off until the POWERade Christmas Tournament at Canon-McMillan on Dec. 29-30.
Mapletown will see action on the match on Saturday at the Moon Duals.