Bonus points key in Central Mountain win over Bellefonte

With one bout remaining in the dual meet, Bellefonte was a win away from pulling off the upset of the season in District 6.

The Raiders, who trailed undefeated Central Mountain, 32-20, needed an upset from Brian McChesney (11-14) over Caleb Turner (9-3) to stun the Wildcats.

As it turned out, it was too much to ask as Turner reversed McChesney and pinned him in 2:23 to give Central Mountain a 38-30 victory.

Thanks to the pre-meet coin flip, Bellefonte had to send its man onto the mat first at 170 and when Dillon Kephart came to the center of the mat Wildcat coach Biff Walizer opted to forfeit to him and move Turner to the 182 spot to try to seal the win.

“The way the matchups went this was set up to be a barn burner,’’ Walizer said. “The way the flip went we had to make the call and risk losing two bouts by bumping Caleb up. But because they had to send out first at 170 we were able to get the matchup we needed. We wanted Caleb to go out there and be aggressive. He’s been having a good year for us. He missed some time with an injury but he’s starting to get back into form now.’’

“Turner is experienced, he’s a solid guy,’’ said Tribe coach Mike Maney. “ He’s been around a while. We were hoping to get a match at 170 but their coach used some strategy there.

“195 was a good starting spot for them and they were able to get on a roll. Cole Stewart stopped the momentum at 106 but they got on another roll.’’

Central Mountain’s Isaac Porter got the Wildcats off to a good start at 195 when he escaped, took Max Mundy down and tilted him for two back points for a 5-0 lead after two periods. Porter got another takedown in the third period for a 7-1 lead.

Bellefonte forfeited to Hunter Weaver at 220 and Bryce Bitner majored Sean Irvin, 8-0 at 285 to give Central Mountain a 13-0 lead.

Steward took a bite out of that when he beat Cody Coleman, 7-1 at 106, taking him down three times for the win.

Geo Barzona got the Wildcats moving again when he rolled over Shafiq Blake, 18-7, getting five takedowns in the win.

Central Mountain forfeited to Zach Taylor at 120 but at 126 the Wildcats got a tech fall from Seth Andrus, who turned Cam Coppola, three times for nine points on his way to a 17-1 tech fall in 4:03 to give Central Mountain a 22-9 cushion.

Bellefonte’s Aaron Witherite only needed 1:45 tp pin Logan Long at 132 but Central Mountain matched that with a fall from Colton Weaver, who pinned Tyler Lucas in 1:08 and when Asher Corl majored Matt Jacobs, 15-2 at 145 the Wildcats were up, 32-15 with four bouts to go.

But the Raiders won the next two as Brock Port pinned Tanner Weaver in 3:41 and Dakota Parsons topped Brian Andrus, 10-3 at 160, getting six back points to bring the dual meet score to 32-24.

“Parsons hasn’t wrestled in four years but he’s become one of the guys we count on,’’ Maney said.

With Parsons’ win and the forfeit, it all came down to the 182-pound bout where Turner took down McChesney and turned him for three points in the first period before reversing him to his back and getting the fall that nailed down the win.

“You run through the matchups in your mind and we felt the worst case scenario was we’d split the bouts, 7-7,’’ Walizer said. “But starting at 195 was good for us because those three guys have been performing for us all year.’’

Maney pointed to the fact that the Wildcats scoring bonus points in six bouts as being a key to the outcome.

“We needed to get bonus points, that’s what it came down to,’’ he said. “They got more bonus points than us.’’

This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 10:43 PM with the headline "Bonus points key in Central Mountain win over Bellefonte."