Wildcats Pushed by Mustangs in 46-24 Win

BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP – Central Mountain head wrestling coach Biff Walizer and his staff kept team members in the wrestling room longer than normal after Tuesday night’s 46-24 win over a resurgent Midd-West team. The sense was the coaches were not elated with the collective Wildcat effort, despite the win.

Yes, Central Mountain won nine of the 14 bouts and moved to 4-1 on the year over the now 6-3 Mustangs. But Midd-West, particularly its middleweights, made the Wildcats earn the victory.

The dual started at 126 pounds and CM zipped to a 12-0 lead after a forfeit victory for Davis Seyler (3-6) and a first period fall for Seth Andrus (17-2). But the Mustangs’ bevy of veteran middleweights swept the next four bouts, including two falls, and all of a sudden the Wildcats trailed 18-12.

But a balanced Central Mountain lineup was too much for the visitors to overcome, the Wildcats taking seven of the last eight bouts to continue the program’s four-year old undefeated string in the Heartland Conference. Tanner Weaver (16-4) started the run with a first period fall, Austin Confer (10-8) picked up a forfeit at 182 and freshman Gage Sutliff (3-2) moved up a weight and filled in for injured teammate Tanner Riggle and responded with a 6-3 decision win. Mahlik Houtz (8-6) followed with a first period fall and the Wildcats were back in command with a 33-18 lead. Mustang heavyweight Owen Housler stopped the ‘Cat run as he caught and pinned Central Mountain’s Jake Edwards (13-4) in the first period, one of three falls surrendered by the home team.

Central Mountain’s lightweights closed things out with three straight wins, including a 12-7 decision for freshman Jason Rinker (1-2) at 106 pounds, a 15-0 technical fall from Johnny Shreffler (12-6) at 113 and a 19-2 technical fall from Dalton Bechdel (13-7) at 120 pounds.

Asked about his post-meet comments with his team, Walizer said the coaches talked about what they preached about in practice, but the lessons delivered in the wrestling room did not show up on the mat Tuesday night. But he said the errors are correctable but indicated they would be addressed in practice the rest of the week.

Walizer had good things to say about his two freshmen, Sutliff and Rinker, who picked up key wins. Noting Sutliff moved up a weight to help out the team, Walizer said the strong freshman stays in good position to control the action. And he said it was “good to see” Rinker pick up his first varsity win. He called his 106-pounder “a ball of fire” and while he has experience to gain, “the effort is there.”

Next up for the Wildcats is first-ever participation in this Saturday’s Dallastown Duals. It will feature an eight team field including host Dallastown, Cumberland Valley, Mifflin County, Hatboro-Horsham, Susquehannock, Marple Newtown and Cocalico.

Central Mountain will have matches at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. AM1230 WBPZ and therecord-online will provide bout-by-bout coverage of the two afternoon matches. There will also be junior high and junior varsity competitions.

Another Tuesday night score saw Bald Eagle Area stay undefeated with a 56-11 win over Central.

MIDD-WEST – 24 CENTRAL MOUNTAIN – 46
126 – Davis Seyler, Central Mountain, received a forfeit.
132 – Seth Andrus, Central Mountain, pinned Trent Peacchy, Mid-West, 0:57.
138 – Kameron Kline, Mid-West, dec. Cody Coleman, Central Mountain, 11-4.
145 – Noah Ettinger, Mid-West, pinned Logan Long, Central Mountain, 3:36.
152 – Wyatt Bassett, Mid-West, dec. Austyn Carson, Central Mountain, 9-2.
160 – Cole Sauer, Mid-West, pinned Asher Corl, Central Mountain, 5:12.
170 – Tanner Weaver, Central Mountain, pinned Ben Umstead, Mid-West, 1:28.
182 – Austin Confer, Central Mountain, received a forfeit.
195 – Gage Sutliff, Central Mountain, dec. Carter Sauer, Mid-West, 6-3.
220 – Mahlik Houtz, Central Mountain, pinned Trey Lauver, Mid-West, 1:31.
285 – Owen Hosler, Mid-West, pinned Jacob Edwards, Central Mountain, 0:31.
106 – Jason Rinker, Central Mountain, dec. Austin Aucker, Mid-West, 12-7.
113 – Johnny Shreffler, Central Mountain, tech fall Aidan Steininger, Mid-West, 6:00 (15-0)
120 – Dalton Bechdel, Central Mountain, tech fall, Ethan Zevan, Mid-West, 4:37 (19-1).