Wildcat Wrestlers Pin Shikellamy, 50-17

BALD EAGlE TOWNSHIP – The Central Mountain wrestling team, long known for its ability to pin, relied on its pin power, six in all, to power the Wildcats to a 50-17 Thursday night win over visiting Shikellamy.

But even with the one-sided score, head coach Biff Walizer and his staff saw room for improvement. Uncharacteristically, the coaches held the team in the wrestling room for a few minutes after the end of the dual meet for a talking to. Asked why, Walizer said that even in some bout wins, he did not see “complete focus.” And, he added, “From top to bottom, we were not real happy with how the team performed.”

Asked if the Wildcats might be looking ahead to Saturday’s Dallastown Duals, he said he was not sure, but said his team “needs to take a step forward, whistle to whistle” to be successful in the eight-team event which features District 3 powers Cumberland Valley and Dallastown.

Held below 58 team points for the first time in a 6-0 dual meet season, Central Mountain still had too much for Shik, taking 10 of 14 bouts. Of the six falls, five came in the first period, the other in the second.

Shikellamy, now 2-3 on the year, brought a handful of solid performers and, in a dual meet that started at 182 pounds, owned a 9-6 lead after the first three bouts. But ‘Cat heavyweight Jake Edwards (16-3) got the home team back on track with a hard-earned 4-2 win. Then the Central Mountain lightweights took over: three straight first period pins from Derek Keen (15-5), Taylor Weaver (15-5) and JohnnyShreffler (15-3); all of a sudden Central Mountain had opened a 27-9 lead.

Dalton Bechdel (17-5) and Kayden Busey (9-6) followed with a major decision and regular decision respectively and the lead was 34-9. Shikellamy’s standout Balestrini brothers took the next two bouts and the Braves were within 34-17.

But Central Mountain would close with wins in the final three bouts: a fall from Alonzo Henry (14-7), a major from Caleb Porter (9-8) and a fall from Austin Confer (7-8).

Perhaps the best bout of the night came in the third of the evening, at 220 pounds. Shik’s Adam Young (16-2) came from behind to edge out Tanner Riggle (16-6) by a 6-4 score.

The Wildcat junior high team stayed undefeated with an 84-15 win over their Shik counterparts.

Both the Wildcat varsity and junior high squads will be competing at Dallastown. The first varsity match will be at 12:30 p.m. against York Suburban (10-6). Rounds will follow at 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. All the varsity matches will be carried on therecord-online.

SHIKELLAMY – 17 CENTRAL MOUNTAIN – 50
182 – Evan Bingaman, Shikellamy, pinned Gage Sutliff, Central Mountain, 3:39.
195 – Nikolas Miller, Central Mountain, pinned Kurtis Raker, Shikellamy, 1:08.
220 – Adam Young, Shikellamy, dec. Tanner Riggle, Central Mountain, 6-4.
285 – Jake Edwards. Central Mountain, dec. Conell Fain, Shikellamy, 4-2.
106 – Derek Keen, Central Mountain, pinned Hunter Beaver, Shikellamy, 1;04.
113 – Taylor Weaver, Central Mountain, pinned Caleb Yoder, Shikellamy, 0:40.
120 – Johnny Shreffler, Central Mountain, Damien Wolfe, Shikellamy, 0:14.
126 – Dalton Bechdel, Central Mountain, major dec. Coltyn Sempko, Shikellamy, 9-0.
132 – Kayden Busey, Central Mountain, dec. James Hallman, Shikellamy, 7-5.
138 – Cade Balestrini Shikellamy, tech fall Cody Coleman, Central Mountain, 5:59 (21-6).
145 – Drew Balestrini, Shikellamy, dec. Lane Porter, Central Mountain, 5-0.
152 – Alonzo Henry, Central Mountain, pinned Jacob Egan, Shikellamy, 4:32.
160 – Caleb Porter, Central Mountain, major dec. Jermez Herring, Shikellamy, 12-0.
170 – Austin Confer, Central Mountain, pinned Isaiah Betz, Shikellamy, 1:29.