Sugar Valley RCH Gains Revenge with a Thrilling 32-31 Win over South Williamsport
By Tom Elling
LOGANTON-Dual meets are the lifeblood of high school wrestling. Nothing involves two communities more than a good old-fashioned “our team versus your team,” and that was never more evident than Tuesday night’s barnburner as Sugar Valley Rural Charter School (11-8) hosted South Williamsport (13-4).
The teams were evenly matched. South did have a January 8th, 37-35 victory over this Phoenix team. All expectations were that this dual would be just as close. Not even Nostradamus could have predicted the outcome, nor could a Hollywood screenwriter pen a more spellbinding finish.
To add to the intrigue, Sugar Valley was riding a seven-match winning streak, last losing to—yep, this Mountaineer team on January 8th. On the other side, South had won six in a row, with their last loss to a powerful Montgomery squad.
The nearly capacity crowd got more than their money’s worth, and the Phoenix had the entire gym erupting at the finish.
The meet started at the traditional lowest weight class (107). South’s Garrett Bacorn took charge and repeated an earlier win over SV’s Leroy Culvey—this time by fall (2:26). Hunter Berry (114) evened it with a first-period fall. Tobias Conoway nabbed his 20th win with a fall in 5:10 at 121. SV led 12-6.
Taylor Cantolina (127) extended the lead to 18-6 as he took a forfeit. SW added six more in similar fashion with Jackson Bower getting his hand raised. SV led 18-12 at this point. Jarren McCloskey (139) dominated at 139 with a tech fall (16-1 in 1:44).
Then, what started off in SV’s favor at 145 with Wyatt Conoway getting a takedown in the first to lead 3-0, quickly turned when Louis Mazullo returned the favor with a takedown, putting Conoway’s shoulders to the mat. What looked like a big lead for the Phoenix turned into just a 23-18 margin.
South’s Eli White looked strong with a tech fall (18-1, 3:40) over Dakota Jodun, tying the meet at 23.
At 160, there were more fireworks than the Clinton County Fourth of July. Thayne Jeffries tied the bout in the third with a nifty takedown, but the senior gave up a late reversal and was put to his back. He survived, but the decision by Cade Lusk (14-8) provided the visitors with a three-point edge (26-23). There was no bout at 172.
South coach Eric Gerber moved his 172-pounder to 189, and his son Cole Gerber came through with a tech fall (17-0, 2:35). The Mounties were in solid position with a 31-23 cushion heading into the final two bouts.
The Valley would have to win at 215—and they did in the most exciting bout of the night. Lincoln Breon (215), after a year off, decided to wrestle again. No one was happier than Coach Jason Bilbay about that decision. After a scoreless first period, South’s Jayden Hamm escaped for a one-point lead. Breon showed some flash with a nifty spin-around takedown. Hamm escaped again, then tackled Breon for three. He had a 5-3 lead after two.
In the final flurry with a lot of points, Breon was down by a point as the clock wound down. 5-4-3-2, and the senior used another spin-around to keep the Phoenix’s hopes alive. It was a must-win, pressure-filled moment.
It all came down to 285. Koda Mincer would need a tech to tie and a fall to win. He fell behind 3-0 but used a Peterson to get a reversal and a four-point near fall. He turned the South heavyweight to his back again—this time securing the meet-winning six points. A roar heard down the valley cheered the home-town team to a hard-fought 32-31 victory.
Sugar Valley is now 12-8 and will host Wellsboro on Thursday night.
