7-0 Wildcats Grapplers to BEA Saturday
by John Lipez
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP – The Central Mountain wrestling team travels to the “old” Bald Eagle Area High School gym to tangle with the Eagles Saturday night and you have to believe coach Doug Buckwalter will be working to make sure his squad concentrates on that dual meet and that dual meet alone.
In pro football they call them “trap games,” a contest with an unheralded opponent you’re expected to beat but a win is not guaranteed and a major foe is to follow.
Because after BEA (2-2) on Saturday the Wildcats will finally return home Wednesday, Jan. 15 to meet their favorite new nemesis, defending District 6 champion Mifflin County.
The Huskies, after a 46-13 loss at Cumberland Valley, are 7-2 and picked by most as the team to beat again this year in District 6; fans will have to wait until next Wednesday to find out if many of these experts are correct.
But that’s next week and first the Wildcats must get by a Steve Millward BEA team struggling so far this season.
The Eagles have picked up two wins, over Clearfield, 37-33, and Altoona, 36-33. A meet scheduled with Tyrone on Tuesday of this week was postponed due to the cold weather.
Eagle losses have been to Jersey Shore, 48-26; and Huntingdon, 54-12.
BEA is a relatively young team with only three seniors as opposed to six freshmen on a 19-man roster.
Top performer so far is sophomore heavyweight Josh Fye, 5-3; others include David Gawryla (sr., 3-2, 195 lbs); Mitchell Taylor (sr., 4-3, 170); Michael Kachik (soph., 8-7, 113); and Clint McCaslin (jr., 3-3, 138).
Central Mountain is coming off a hard-earned 39-22 win over Bellefonte (2-1) last Friday.
The bout split was only 8-6 in favor of the Wildcats but four pins, including three in the first three weights, helped widen the margin of victory.
Central Mountain took a lead it never relinquished as Loc Long (6-2), Cameron Porter (12-3) and Bryce Hanley (12-4) racked up first period pins at 195, 220 and 285 pounds.
Freshman Geo Barzona (9-6) avenged an early season loss to Aaron Witherite (7-5) at 106 pounds, the score 4-1 in overtime, and the Wildcats led 21-0.
Bellefonte went on a 4-bout run to get within two at 21-19 but Central Mountain picked up a major from Demetri Probst (8-5) at 145, a fall from Chad Reese (13-4) at 160, and majors from Gavin Caprio (14-3) and Issac Porter (6-4) to pull away for the win.
The match at BEA Saturday is set for a 7 p.m. start. There will be no junior high meet preceding the event as the Central Mountain Junior High team is competing at the all-day Bellefonte Junior High Invitational starting at 8 a.m.
