Colonials turn up the heat against Leps
YORK RUN – The Albert Gallatin Colonials started to show coach Duane Dupont the kind of wrestling team they can be, collecting four pins, a technical fall and two major decisions, while beating Belle Vernon, 55-13 Wednesday night to improve to 2-1 in Section 2-AAA. “I had a freshman at 125 pounds in his first varsity match. He got a good pin for us and started us on a roll,” Dupont said. “Belle Vernon battled us tough but fortunately our conditioning paid off. We’ve been waiting to see this type of performance all year. The kids are buying in to everything we’re doing now.”
The match started at 112 pounds where Brendan Hasson gave the Leopards the early 4-0 lead with a 12-0 major decision over Will Valentine.
The Colonials got a forfeit at 119, which started a string of 11 straight wins. After the forfeit Matt Walters put away Tim Moore with a headlock at the 1:10 mark of the 125-pound bout, and Schuyler Moncheck picked up a forfeit at 130 to increase the Colonials’ lead to 18-4.
From that point the Colonials turned up their game a notch. At 135 Dave Skiles took an early 2-0 lead over the Leopards’ Dom Mavrikas with a first-period takedown. Skiles then put up eight points in the second and added three more points in the third for a 13-0 major decision.
AG then got consecutive first-period pins. At 140 Colin Smith record his pin in 1:33, then at 145 Chris Milligan had the fastest pin of the night in 35-seconds.
Patrick Palmer picked up another major decision for the Colonials at 152. He had a takedown against Cody Lawson to take a 2-0 lead in the first period. He picked up three more in the second with an escape and a takedown. In the third period, Lawson escaped and Palmer came back with a takedown. Lawson escaped again, but Palmer got another takedown and a two-point near-fall for the 11-2 win.
Tyler Haines increased the Colonials lead to 44-4 with a first-period pin in the 160-pound bout, ending the match in 40 seconds.
Jacob Lowry won a tough match at 171 over Adam Nickelson. Lowry took a 2-1 lead in the first, getting the takedown and giving up an escape. He made the score 4-1 in the second with a reversal before Nickelson escaped to start the third, where Lowry scored a takedown for the 6-2 win.
Daris Alum got a technical fall at 189, beating Dylan Kefover 17-0 with the match being stopped at the 5:04 mark. John Kalbaugh followed that with an 8-2 decision over Atkinson, giving the Colonials a 55-4 lead.
“Albert Gallatin won where it was supposed to, and that’s what good teams do,” Belle Vernon’s Jack Jolly said. “I didn’t think we would be put on our backs like we were tonight. We got a lesson, so we have to build from that.”
Belle Vernon heavyweight Lambert Olszewski remained unbeaten, running his record to 8-0, edging Terry Williamson in overtime. The wrestlers battled to a 3-3 tie with Olszewski getting a takedown and an escape, and Williamson benefitted from two penalty points and an escape.
The first overtime was scoreless. In the rideout Olszewski started on the bottom and escaped. Williamson got his turn in the next 30-second period and escaped to keep the match tied at 4-4. Olszewski started on the bottom once again and escaped quickly for the win.
The Leopards picked up their final points on the night as Nate Russo picked up a forfeit at 103.