Mifflin County tips State in Mat action

By BRIAN CARSON

LEWISTOWN – The Mifflin County wrestling team received significant contributions throughout the lineup to defeat State College 38-25 in the Mid-Penn Commonwealth matchup and the Huskies home opener on Thursday.

Mifflin County won eight bouts, scoring bonus points in five of those, to improve to 4-1 on the season and 1-1 in the Commonwealth.

“I told them after we were done, everybody wrestled well tonight. Even the kids who lost wrestled hard. They kept wrestling all the way to the end,” Mifflin County assistant coach Dale Searer said. “Overall, we wrestled solid. We had a good week of practice and it showed out on the mat. We out-conditioned them for sure. I’m very proud of them.”

Austin Pecht (145), Haydn Crum (182) and Blaine Davis (285) came up big in toss-up matches that turned out to be one-sided, while Christian Fisher (120) put on a display of mat wrestling to marvel at.

State College (2-1, 1-1) opened with a major decision at 138 when Evan Courts decisioned Kyler Everly 10-2. Pecht brought the Husky crowd to its feet when he hit Michael McShea with a lateral drop, applied the half and got the fall in 50 seconds to give Mifflin County the 6-4 lead.

At 152, freshman Anson Wagner helped the Husky cause even in defeat. Down 5-0 after two periods to Julian Simmons, it looked like State College would get some bonus points. Instead, Wagner owned the third with a reversal and two stall points in a 5-4 loss.

Trey Kibe improved to 9-0 with a masterful performance against Jason Dry at 160. Kibe rolled up six takedowns for a 13-5 lead before picking up Dry’s left leg and putting him on his back for the fall in 2:34.

At 170, Brycen Hassinger (9-3) had a two-point nearfall in the second and an escape in the third for the 3-0 win. Crum made it three straight for the Huskies when he took care of Noah Prewitt by the same 3-0 score, thanks to a snap-down, go-behind takedown in the second period. The Crum victory made it 18-7.

The Little Lions made it 18-16 when Andrew McLaughlin spoiled the season debut of Dylan Grassmyer, beating the Husky senior 6-3 at 195. Urbas (12-0), top-ranked at 195, bumped up to 220 and pinned Isaac Matthews in 1:28.

Davis improved to 8-3 on the season with a 1:27 pin over Harrison Schoen to make it 24-16. Mifflin County added to its bonus point bonanza after freshman Nic Allison (10-1) rolled over Bailey Weaverling for a 16-1 technical fall in 4:25. Allison had four takedowns and eight near fall points.

The Little Lions still had life, picking up six points when Jude Swisher won by injury default over Cade Rishal just eight seconds into the match, closing the gap to 29-22.

In the feature match of the night, Fisher met Clayton Leidy in a battle of state-ranked wrestlers. After a scoreless first period. Fisher (10-2) escaped making it 1-0. In the third, Leidy (10-2) chose down and Fisher threw in legs and dominated the State College junior on the mat for the 1-0 victory

“In the first period, I was just feeling him out since we both got bigger, stronger and faster. I didn’t want to lose all the energy. The second period, still feeling him out, seeing what he’d do on top and working my stuff on bottom,” Fisher said. “On top, I was able to get a leg in right off the bat and I’m really comfortable there. I was able to ride strong, keep him parallel, keep him down the entire time and I felt good.”

Fisher, now with 95 career wins, bounced back after fighting sickness and a back problem at King of the Mountain.

At 126, Owen Woolcott (11-3) defeated Derek Burk (7-4) for the second time in a week by the same 3-1 score. Woolcott defeated Burk at the KOM quarterfinals. Ethan Kauffman (7-3) closed the match out with a fall in 1:09 over Kyle Martin at 132.

Mifflin County travels to the Powerade Tournament on Dec. 28 at Canon-McMillan high school.

Mifflin County 38, State College 25

138: Evan Courts (SC) major dec. Kyler Everly (MC), 10-2; 145: Austin Pecht (MC) pinned Michael McShea (SC); :50; 152: Julian Simmons (SC) dec. Anson Wagner (MC), 5-4; 160: Trey Kibe (MC) pinned Jason Dry (SC), 2:34; 170: Brycen Hassinger (MC) dec. Tyler Price (SC), 3-0; 182: Haydn Crum (MC) dec. Noah Prewitt (SC), 3-0; 195: Andrew McLaughlin (SC) dec. Dylan Grassmyer (MC), 6-3; 220: Cole Urbas (SC) pinned Isaac Matthews (MC), 1:28; 285: Blaine Davis (MC) pinned Harrison Schoen (SC), 1:27; 106: Nic Allison (MC) technical fall Bailey Weaverling (SC), 16-1 (4:25); 113: Jude Swisher (SC) injury default Cade Rishel (MC), :08; 120: Christian Fisher (MC) dec. Clayton Leidy (SC), 1-0; 126: Owen Woolcott (SC) dec. Derek Burk (MC), 3-1; 132: Ethan Kauffman (MC) pinned Kyle Martin (SC), 1:09.