Penns Valley wrestling showed it was ‘ready to roll’ in season debut vs. Philipsburg-Osceola
Penns Valley wrestling coach Joel Brinker was excited to see how his team would do in its first match of this season.
He knew they’d be ready, but wasn’t sure how ready.
Well, the Rams (1-0) won half of the six contested matches and received six forfeits to top Philipsburg-Osceola 52-20 on Tuesday night in a Senior Night dual for the Mounties (0-5), which featured a showdown between two state place winners.
“It’s just great to be here. It’s nice to get out now and get new blood,” Brinker said. “You could tell some were just trying to see what their gas tank would be, and make sure they had enough to get through the match. Some of them, were just seeing where they were at. Definitely some jitters there for a few of them, I could tell just by talking to some of them.”
Mounties coach Brad Pataky knew what his team was in for with Penns Valley.
“We knew their guys were going to be prepared,” Pataky said. “We said (to our guys), ‘Hey, we are wrestling an experienced team. Yeah, they haven’t had any matches yet, but they were going to be ready to roll.’”
Senior Justin Darlington came to the mat for the Rams with his team trailing 4-0. Darlington took on undefeated Nick Coudriet at 126 pounds, and went to work.
Darlington recorded a takedown in the first and second period to hold a 4-0 lead heading to the final period. In the third period, Darlington picked up a reversal as Coudriet choose to start the frame on top.
Darlington earned some near-fall points on a 2-on-1 tilt to earn an 8-0 shutout to tie the dual.
“It was a big match. I told him, ‘I think he was sixth seed last year at districts,’” Brinker said, “‘and you were 10th, so this is big, and see where you are at.’ He puts (the work) in year round. It’s good to see him get rewarded for it. It’s a good win against a tough guy.”
Penns Valley junior Cole Felker made quick work of Jimmy Richtscheit at 160 pounds with a fall in 49 seconds. The win blew open the doors for the Rams, who led 16-14 heading into Felker’s match.
Next up was the highlight bout between returning PIAA place winners in the Rams’ Malachi DuVall and P-O’s Hunter Weitoish. DuVall finished third last season at 152 pounds. Weitoish finished eighth at 160 pounds.
“They are competitors. They decided they wanted to wrestle tonight,” Pataky said. “One guy didn’t back down from the other. Malachi is very good. I was telling Hunter, ‘when you can wrestle a guy at his level, this time in the season, it’s much better to wrestle those guys now, than at the end of the year.’”
This year, the pair squared off at 172 pounds. It was all DuVall from the get go.
DuVall had a nice throw by to secure a takedown. He later added three near-fall points with a 2-on-1 tilt, but Weitoish earned an escape to trail 5-1 after one period.
In the second period, DuVall secured a reversal from the bottom starting position. He then secured a far-side cradle late to pin Weitoish in 3:55.
“It was a good match. Both of them wrestled. Both are tough, state-caliber kids,” Brinker said. “Malachi is on a mission this year. He puts a ton in outside of the season. It was a great match for both of them.”
Penns Valley led 28-14 after DuVall’s victory. From there, the dual went by in a blink of an eye with five forfeits — with four in favor of the Rams.
Although the end result wasn’t what P-O wanted, they still had a lot of bright spots.
The dual started at 120 pounds with the Mounties’ freshman in Marcus Gable hitting the mat against Hayden Yearick.
The freshman dominated the junior to the tune of a 15-3 major decision. Gable lead 5-0 after one period thanks to a slick single leg and three near-fall points. In the second period, he earned a reversal with a sitting switch and collected two more near-fall points.
In the third period, Gable picked up another reversal, and put the pedal to the metal tallying two more takedowns.
“We are very pleased with Marcus’ methodical approach to the sport,” Pataky said. “He is a sponge and loves learning. He is a hard kid to find, but we are very blessed that he is part of our guys. He’s got a bright future.”
Austin Foster came to the mat at 138 pounds for P-O with his team trailing 10-4. Foster picked up a takedown of Nate Long 35 seconds into the match.
Foster secured a cross-face cradle and pinned Long in 54 seconds.
“I think last year, he and Nate Long wrestled and he won 4-3,” Pataky said of Foster. “It just shows where he has gone from last year. We haven’t seen the full fledged Austin Foster yet. He’s still getting his conditioning back, and getting some rust off. By the end of the season, he’s going to be someone that nobody wants to wrestle.”
Luke Hughes hit the mat for the Mounties at 152 pounds. Hughes, who had yet to win a match coming into Tuesday, looked like a wrestler that should have had multiple wins already this year.
The junior took on Malachi Thompson, who, according to Pataky, Hughes has a history with from junior high. Pataky noted they split matches at the junior-high level.
On Tuesday, Hughes was offensive, tallying three takedowns and two near-fall points to hang a 9-1 major decision on Thompson.
“Today showed how much Luke has improved from junior high,” Pataky said. “A lot of it goes back to the kind of kid he is. He loves learning and working hard, when you have that combination it is a deadly combination.”
Penns Valley 52, Philipsburg-Osceola 20
Tuesday at Philipsburg
120: Marcus Gable, P-O, major dec. Hayden Yearick, 15-3
126: Justin Darlington, PV, major dec. Nick Coudriet, 8-0
132: Ty Watson, PV, won by forfeit
138: Austin Foster, P-O, pinned Nate Long, :54
145: Noah Fetterolf, PV, won by forfeit
152: Luke Hughes, P-O, major dec. Malachi Thompson, 9-1
160: Cole Felker, PV, pinned Jimmy Richtscheit, :49
172: Malachi DuVall, pinned Hunter Weitoish, 3:55
189: Michael Hill, PV, won by forfeit
215: Parker Moore, P-O, won by forfeit
285: Ben Sharer, PV, won by forfeit
106: Colton Shunk, PV, won by forfeit
113: Chase Fleshman, PV, won by forfeit
Takedowns: PV 4, P-O 7
Records: Penns Valley 1-0, Philipsburg-Osceola 0-5
Next match: Penns Valley at West Branch, Saturday, Noon; Philipsburg-Osceola at Altoona, Thursday, 7 p.m.
