State College wrestling’s rally comes up short in close loss to Mifflin County
There has been a common theme to State College’s losses on the wrestling mat — giving up too many bonus points.
The losses, however, have all been close.
On Thursday evening, the Little Lions won seven of 13 bouts, but saw five of their wrestlers get pinned in a 33-31 loss to Mifflin County. It also didn’t help that State College was missing two of its big guns in James Whitbred and Kael Davis.
“I knew it was going to come down to the wire. Every dual that we’ve lost this year has come down to one match. We performed well, but just came up one match short,” Little Lions coach Jason Nickal said. “We just got to stay off our back and quit giving up those bonus points. We shuffled our lineup with two of our big-time scorers out of the lineup, that kind of hurt us. We did have some kids that stepped up and performed well.”
Nickal felt his squad had “big wins” at 145 and 160 pounds, and another at 133 pounds.
The dual began at 215 pounds and the squads traded bonus point victories back and forth.
Izaiah Zeruth gave State College a 6-0 lead by pinning Alonso Torres in 3:52. After the Huskies strung together back-to-back falls, Noah Young received a forfeit at 114 pounds to tie the dual at 12-12.
Little Lion Jon Whitbred shut out Paxton Shawver at 121 pounds, 6-0, to give his team a lead again. Mifflin County responded with a fall from Jake Knable at the next weight to claim an 18-15 lead.
State College’s Johnathan Coates gave up two reversals to Layten Bowersox at 133 pounds. However, his takedowns in the first and third period gave him a 7-4 win that energized his teammates. It tied the dual up at intermission.
“I always tell our kids that these are the fun matches. They could go either way. It always depends on bonus points,” Huskies coach Kirby Martin said. “It (also) depends on if your lineup is healthy or not, so this was a great match for the fans. It was back and forth, and a lot of matches were very evenly matched.”
Martin’s squad took the lead again thanks to a 5-0 win from Kamden Everly.
At 145 pounds, State College’s Brady Bucher gave up two first period takedowns to Brian Albert. The senior stayed the course though and battled his way to a 10-7 win.
He had a takedown late in the third period and he then collected nearfall points for the winning score.
After suffering a fall at 152 pounds, the Little Lions responded with some bonus points of their own. Senior Xavier Zeruth had a takedown in the first and third period. He tacked on some nearfall points in the second period for a 9-1 major decision over Brayan Aurand.
Zeruth’s win pulled State College to within 27-25 with two bouts left.
“The beautiful thing about duals, is the ebbs and the flows of the energy. We had it going our way right there when we needed it, coming down to the wire,” Nickal said. “They caught us in a scramble situation, and got the pin at 172. I knew we couldn’t overcome that. Had we kept that to a regular decision or even a major, it would have been really exciting.”
Like Nickal mentioned, Mifflin County got a pin from Reese Christine following Zeruth’s victory, which sealed the dual with one bout left. However, the last match put both squad’s best wrestlers against one another, with the Little Lions’ Asher Cunningham facing off against Avery Aurand at 189 pounds.
Cunningham tallied the first points with a quick takedown in the first period. He then had a full period rideout of Aurand in the second period, but was able to tally nearfall points. In the third period, the Penn State commit reversed Aurand quickly, and pinned him in 4:25.
“Cunningham is so good. He is one of the top kids in the nation. I’m glad Avery got to wrestle him,” Martin said. “As a wrestler and competitor, you want to test yourself against the best. He got a chance to do that tonight, but again, Cunningham is really, really good.”
State College fell to 2-3 on the year, and will turn its focus toward Williamsport on Tuesday.
However, even though his squad suffered another close loss, Nickal is very pleased with the postseason a little over a month away.
“I like where we’re at right now. Our kids are getting better, conditioning is good. We’re learning every time we step on the mat,” Nickal said. “I think we’re going to be in a good spot at the end of the seasons. We get everybody healthy and on the mat, we’re a little bit different team.”
Mifflin County 33, State College 31
Thursday at State College
215: Izaiah Zeruth, SC, pinned Alonso Torres, 3:52
285: Peyton Kearns, MC, pinned Michael Troupe, 4:41
107: Andrew Alexander, MC, pinned Nico Diaz, 3:32
114: Noah Young, SC, won by forfeit
121: Jon Whitbred, SC dec. Paxton Shawver, 6-0
127: Jake Knable, MC, pinned Luke Young, 3:57
133: Johnathan Coates, SC, dec. Layten Bowersox, 7-4
139: Kamden Everly, MC, dec. Nick Berrena, 5-0
145: Brady Bucher, SC, dec. Brian Albert, 10-7
152: Colby Seiler, MC, pinned Carson Grande, 3:42
160: Xavier Zeruth, SC, major dec. Brayan Aurand, 9-1
172: Reese Christine, MC, pinned Alijah Al-Sulaimani, 3:43
189: Asher Cunningham, SC, pinned Avery Aurand, 4:25
Takedowns: MC 8, SC 11
JH: State College 50-33
Records: Mifflin County (2-3), State College (2-3)
Next match: State College at Williamsport, 7 p.m. Tuesday
