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Eight pins propel Wildcats to dominant win over Shamokin in home opener

Facing a tough opponent in Shamokin’s Robert Whitmer, Central Mountain freshman heavyweight Hayes Henry maintained a slim, three-point lead heading into the final minute of his bout. With time ticking down, Whitmer was able to land a well-placed shot, one takedown away from potentially turning the tide.

Instead, Henry absorbed it as he had in the previous period, halting Whitmer’s momentum before wrapping around him for his third takedown of the match. Then, he carried the bout sealer into a timely pin, with the ref slapping the mat just six seconds before time expired.

“He almost got me,” said Henry on the sequence. “I worked hard and that was a good match. I just tried my best to sprawl and just hoped he wouldn’t get me down, get a lot of weight on him.”

His pin preceded five falls from the team, and it wouldn’t be the last.

On the night, Central Mountain finished with eight pins, sophomore Gavin Heverly added a tech fall and the team as a whole won nine of ten competitive matches in a match that spanned just 28 minutes, earning a 70-5 victory over Shamokin in Monday’s long-awaited home opener. The win marked its seventh straight to kick off the dual season, with the previous six coming away from home.

“We don’t have too many home matches so it’s good to see the guys go out and get some whistles blown,” said Central Mountain head coach Biff Walizer. “They got after it, which is what we hope for.”

“Our team wrestled good today, and I like how we performed,” emphasized Henry.

Against a wrestler that came into the match with a 10-4 record, Henry wrestled a composed match, earning a takedown in the first and responding well with a quick escape when Whitmer got him down to start the second.

Like his turnaround that sealed the deal, he’d avoid a takedown late in the second on a similar double-legged shot, wrapping around Whitmer just as he had in the third period to go into the final stanza with a 7-3 lead. Whitmer would log a reversal to make it 7-5, but Henry’s defense held firm from there.

“This is only his second year wrestling. It’s basically baby steps and he’s getting a little bit better every time out, every day and we’re working on some basic things so he can keep progressing,” said Walizer on Henry. “He’s got the build for a good heavy weight. It’s just a matter of getting that experience and learning from his mistakes.”

In the match’s opening bout at 139, No. 20 Patrick Tarantella racked up five first-period takedowns, carrying the last into a pin that kicked off a span of three that put the Wildcats up 18-0. No. 2 Dalton Perry and Luke Ananea quickly followed him up with pins at :34 and 1:24 respectively.

When freshman Dakoda Packer endured the team’s lone loss, a tech fall against two-time district medalist Chase Pensyl, the shake back from Central Mountain was short and shift. Dalton McDermott took the first move of his match at 172 and turned it into the fastest pin of the night at 11 seconds and Kai Fravel followed him up with a fall right at a minute.

With a forfeit at 189 and Henry’s pin at 285, the Wildcats’ lead went from 18-5 to 42-5 and would only continue to grow from there. Cael Dorman, Gavin Heverly and Collin Bauman kept the run going through lightweights, posting a first-period pin, tech fall and first-period pin to round out the night’s competitive matches.

The win saw the Wildcats improve to 7-0 for the third straight season and bolster its regular-season dual win streak to 21. They’ll see more of a challenge in their upcoming bout against Selinsgrove (2-0), a tough league foe in the Heartland-I that drew comparisons to Shikellamy from Walizer.

“They’re kind of a similar team to Shik, who gave us a real battle,” said Walizer. “We’re expecting a tough test for sure. “For the most part, we like where we’re at but just got to realize we still have a ways to go until the end of the season.”

That match is set for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at Central Mountain.

Central Mountain 70, Shamokin 5

139: Patrick Tarantella (CM) pinned Zachariah Randall (S), :59. 145: Dalton Perry (CM) pinned Jayce Gink (S), :34. 152: Luke Ananea (CM) pinned Trey Taylor (S), 1:24. 160: Chase Pensyl (S) tech fall Dakoda Packer (CM), 18-2 (1:53). 172: Dalton McDermott (CM) pinned Jessie Villor (S), :11. 189: Bryce Brungard (CM) won by forfeit. 215: Kai Fravel (CM) pinned Triston Campbell (S), 1:00. 285: Hayes Henry (CM) pinned Robert Whitmer (S), 5:54. 107: Cael Dorman (CM) pinned Ashton Hughes (S), 1:37. 114: Gavin Heverly (CM) tech fall Xavier Carr (S), 18-3 (2:19). 121: Collin Bauman (CM) pinned Logan Pensyl (S), 1:32. 127: Aiden Kunes (CM) won by forfeit. 133: Luke Garman (CM) won by forfeit.

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