Connellsville has lock on 2nd place in Section 2-AAA
EDITOR’S NOTE: The end of the following story was cut off in Thursday’s editions, so it is being published again in its entirety.YORK RUN – Wednesday night’s Section 2-AAA wrestling match between Albert Gallatin and Connellsville shaped up to be a real nail-biter. Normally this would be for the section title, however, this year Hempfield has settled that argument. Both teams entered the match at 6-1 with a chance to tie up second place and a better seeding in the team championships.
Coming into the match it appeared the Colonials (6-2, 14-5) would have a little more momentum on their side. They were at home. It was “Senior Night” and Connellsville had wrestled the night before, going on a long road trip to win a tough match at Kiski Area.
However, at the end of the evening, the Falcons methodically pulled away from the Colonials for a decisive 53-12 win to put a lock second place in the section.
“This is a tough week for us, wrestling two good teams on consecutive nights. I’m real pleased with the results,” Falcons coach Tom Dolde said. “There were some good matches tonight. Duane does a great job with his kids and runs a nice program. We tell our kids they have always got to be prepared because they are going to face a tough six minutes against teams like AG.”
The match started at 171 pounds.
Lance Bryson got the Colonials off to a great start with a third-period pin over Nate Gaffney. Bryson jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first period with two takedowns, while giving up an escape. In the second Bryson started on top and gave up an escape and came back with a takedown and a near-fall to open a 9-2 lead. The third period started in neutral, where Bryson got a takedown and shot the half for the pin at 4:26.
The Falcons (7-1, 15-3) got that six right back when Zack Benzio pinned Kevin Bella at 189.
“I was real disappointed in the way we wrestled tonight,” Colonials coach Duane Dupont said. “I felt we were hesitant and let Connellsville take the match to us. I felt we gave up in some weight classes tonight and didn’t fight back.
“I know we’re better than what we showed tonight. We want to take this program to the next level. If we don’t start believing we can beat teams like Connellsville we’re never going to get there.”
The Colonials took a 9-6 lead when Dave Mitchell earned an 11-6 decision over Matt Zavada at 215. In the 285-pound match Justin Haines edged Jeremiah Karpency 4-1 to tie the score for the Falcons.
The Falcons went on a run, winning the next four matches to open up a 31-9 lead.
At 103 Jerry Cramer got a first-period pin over Lee Lockembie. Rob Myers followed that at 112, stopping John Thomas in the second period.
In the 119-pound bout Jacob Swink got a major decision for the Falcons, grinding out a 10-1 win over Dylan Bella. Ethan Saylor got the Falcons another pin at 125,stopping Matt Lowry in the first period.
Jared Milligan picked up what would be the Colonials’ last win of the night with an 8-2 decision over John Freed at 130.
One of the best bouts of the night came at 135, where the Falcons’ Jared Dolde and AG’s Brad Zitney went into overtime. After a scoreless first period, Dolde got an escape in the second. In the third Zitney tied the match, getting an escape of his own. After coming close several times during the match, Dolde finally got a good shot on the elusive Zitney to get the takedown and a 3-1 win giving the Falcons a 34-12 lead.
Slade Harvey sealed the win for the Falcons with a 10-2 major decision over Cody Mitchell at 140. From there the Falcons got a third period pin from Andy Snyder at 145.
In the 152-pound match Lee Newcomer beat Jeff Dulaney 7-3, and then Kaitan Smiley closed out the night for the Falcons, pinning Tom Gates in the second period.
“We start three freshmen and four sophomores. We pretty young but I think were starting to develop,” Dolde said. “A lot of our young kids have a chance to be very good wrestlers over the next couple of years. They’re starting to grow up.”