×

Juniata struggles against Line Mountain

Sentinel phoo by JEFF FISHBEIN
Juniata’s Jared Heister, right, tries to put Chris Koperna of Line Mountain on his back in the third period of their 170-pound bout in Mifflintown, Thursday.

MIFFLINTOWN — If you had to sum up Thursday’s Tri-Valley League dual meet at Juniata in one word, it would be a toss-up between heartbreak and devastation.

The Eagles won 12 of 14 bouts in a crushing 57-9 defeat of the Indians.

Of the two victories for the home team — a decision favoring Tyler Wileman (145 pounds), most of which was wrestled in the third period, and a pin by Taylor Henry at 220 — the latter was more impressive not just for the bonus, but for the effort.

“I was proud of Taylor Henry — a nice big win tonight — and Wileman had a good match,” Juniata coach Mike Robinson said.

The heartbreak came in a span of four matches from 160 to 195, bouts that Juniata lost by a combined total of six points,  with all but one of the losses occurring in third-period turnarounds.

“I felt that some of our guys wrestled tough and came up a point or two short,” Robinson said. “In three matches we blew it in the last (seconds). That would have been at least nine points and cut the deficit.”

Line Mountain started with a major decision at 126 then a first-period pin at 132. At 138, it looked as though the Indians could get on the board when Tyler Feltman had a reversal and back points in the second period to take a 5-2 lead. But he and Caleb Shaffer flopped like dry-land fish after that, and Shaffer put Feltman on his back for good before the period ended.

That’s when Juniata got its first, although not easily. Wileman and Collin Klinger wrestled a scoreless first and Klinger got the only point of the second period, an escape after choosing defense.

In the third, working from the bottom, Wileman reversed Klinger, who tied it with an escape. Wileman took the lead for good with the only takedown of the match, then tilted Klinger for a 7-2 final.

The Eagles scored a technical fall at 152 before the run of disappointment. It started with Parker Noss at 160, where Gary Laudenslager rode a first-period takedown to the third, where Noss escaped to make it 2-1. But Laudenslager caught Noss on what could have been a Juniata offensive move, and it ended 4-2 against Noss.

“You know what? Parker wrestled one heck of a match,” Robinson said. “He wrestled well, extremely well — he just started wrestling a little late.”

Juniata’s Jared Heister lost a 4-3 decision on a third-period reversal at 170. Garrett Gabel was leading 5-3 at 182 when the Eagles’ Ethan Long strung together an escape, a takedown and a two-point tilt to win 7-5. And Darin Love was called for an illegal hold against Line Mountain’s Jaron Renn with 16 seconds left on the clock in their bout, the difference in the 3-2 outcome.

“We had several close matches that could have gone either way,” Robinson said. “We knew they had some solid kids.”

Henry’s second-period fall over Tait Bordner was matched by Line Mountain in the final match, before the Indians gave three forfeits.

Juniata hosts its second dual meet tournament Saturday, then adds a tournament to its schedule a week later at New Oxford, a sort of makeup for an event lost on opening weekend.

“The kids needed the competition. It isn’t where or when I wanted it, but we’ll take it,” Robinson said. “The kids need the mat time.”

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $3.92/week.

Subscribe Today