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Central Mountain rolls over Bald Eagle Area, 58-9

Kayden Busey (right) of Central Mountain High School and Alex Holt (left) of Bald Eagle Area High School clash during a high school rivalry wrestling meet between the two schools on Friday, December 21, 2018. (The Express/Tim Weight)

MILL HALL — One year ago when Central Mountain and Bald Eagle Area got together for a dual meet in the Eagles Nest, the Eagles rallied from behind to down the Wildcats 39-33 in a battle of early season unbeatens.

Friday night in the Wildcat gymnasium, the drama was quite different as the Wildcats won the first seven bouts for a commanding 31-0 lead before cruising to a 58-9 triumph over the Eagles.

Momentum can play a big role in the outcome of many athletic events and Friday night’s matchup was one of those as the Wildcats rode the big early lead to the decisive win.

“Things couldn’t have started out any better then they did with Taylor Weaver beating a guy who on paper he shouldn’t have, but he is a dangerous kid,” said CM head coach Biff Walizer. “If you give him an opening, he’ll take advantage of it. Yeah, the momentum those first guys got for us was big and the rest of the guys just kept it rolling.”

BEA head coach Ron Guenot agreed about the momentum factor in the quick start for Central Mountain.

“They got those early wins and when they got the momentum, they just kept it going,” said Guenot. “If we could have recovered from those first three, things might have been different, but it just kept snowballing on us. Not only did they beat us early, but they did it with some bonus point wins. All we can do is learn from this, work hard and come back. Hopefully we’ll be able to do that.”

Weaver overcame an 8-2 deficit after battling off his back for a minute, the Wildcat freshman decking Cooper Gilham at the 4:42 mark of their bout.

Johnny Shreffler made an escape and takedown stand up for a 3-0 win over Garret Giedroc at 120 and Dalton Bechdel was all over Drake Holderman for a 10-2 major at 126.

Kayden Busey broke a 2-all deadlock with an escape in the third period for a hard-fought 3-2 win, Cody Coleman turned Drew Koleno every way but loose for a technical fall at 138 and Lane Porter made it six wins in a row when he decked Noah Foltz with six seconds left in the opening period.

Alonzo Henry continues his impressive wrestling as he put on a takedown clinic against Devin Kibe with nine takedowns for an 18-7 major at 152.

Richard Taylor got the Eagles on the board when he used an escape and takedown in the third period for a 5-4 win over Caleb Porter, but Austin Confer put the Wildcats back in the winners’ circle with a fall in 1:38 over Brady Proctor.

Dylan Bisel picked up his team’s second win of the night with a fall over Gage Sutliff at 182, but again the Wildcats went on the warpath to pick up wins in the next two bouts.

Doing the honors for CM were Nikolas Miller with a fall in 1:56 at 195 and Tanner Riggle with a hard-fought 3-2 nod over David Close at 220.

Unable to field a wrestler in the next two bouts, the Eagles forfeited to Jake Edwards at 285 and Derek Keen at 106 to set the final.

“Coming in we knew it was going to be a tough task,” said BEA head coach Ron Guenot. “We expected to win a few more matches than what we got, but hats off to Central Mountain because they wrestled well. That is all it came down to. They kept wrestling hard, they were physical they wanted to win and they did.”

When asked if the two back-to-back wins in two nights by his squad might be a Christmas present to the coaching staff, Walizer said with a big smile on his face, “The Christmas present is that (assistant) coach Doug Buckwalter is running the 9 a.m. practice tomorrow morning.”

With two big wins in as many nights, Walizer is happy with the way his wrestlers are performing heading into the holiday break.

“The intensity was there tonight and that was good to see,” said Walizer. “Even guys like Caleb Porter who was wrestling a returning starter from last year, if he continues to work hard and wrestle like that good things are going to come to him. Losses like his are tough to take, but he is going to be OK. Up and down the lineup, the effort we are getting from the guys looks real good.”

Central Mountain 58, BEA 9

113 — Taylor Weaver, CM, pinned Cooper Gilham, 4:42. (6-0)

120 — Johnny Shreffler, CM, dec. Garret Giedroc, 3-0. (9-0)

126 — Dalton Bechdel (CM) maj. Dec. Drake Holderman, 10-2. (13-0)

132 — Kayden Busey, CM, dec. Alex Holt, 3-2. (16-0)

138 — Cody Coleman, CM, tech. fall Drew Koleno, 16-0, 6:00. (21-0)

145 — Lane Porter, CM, pinned Noah Foltz, 1:54. (27-0)

152 — Alonzo Henry, CM, maj. Dec. Devin Kibe, 18-7. (31-0)

160 — Richard Taylor, BEA, dec. Caleb Porter, 5-4. (31-3)

170 — Austin Confer, CM, pinned Brady Proctor, 1:38. (37-3)

182 — Dylan Bisel, BEA, pinned Gage Sutliff, 1:54. (37-9)

195 — Nikolas Miller, CM, pinned Chandler Burns, 1:56. (43-9)

220 — Tanner Riggle, CM, dec. David Close, 3-2. (46-9)

285 — Jake Edwareds, CM, won by forfeit. (52-9)

106 –Derek Keen, (CM), won by forfeit. (58-9)

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