King's Outlasts Lycoming

WILKES-BARRE--Lycoming's wrestling team lost at King's on Friday 25-15. In a hard fought match, the Warriors rallied with a pin by Clint Gardener (Montoursville, PA), but ultimately dropped their fourth straight dual to a top-notch opponent..

King’s, which was wrestling with a full lineup for the first time since December 2, earned its first victory over Lycoming (7-6) since a 24-9 triumph in 2001.

With King's (3-9) holding a slim 10-6 lead entering the 165-pound matchup Drew Dehaut came up a crucial pin at 165-pounds when he pinned Eric Miller (Muncy, PA) at 1:05 to give the Monarchs a 16-6 lead.

At 174, King’s Zach Dietrick took a 2-0 lead over Clinton Gardner but Gardner would score a second period reversal before pinning Dietrick in 3:49, cutting the King’s lead to 16-12.

King's Zack WIlkinson trailed 2-0 to Brian Kopesky (Phillipsburg, NJ) early but rebounded to build a 4-2 lead  heading into the final period. Kopesky would escape to cut the lead to 4-3, but Wilkinson posted a takedown before registering an all-important fall with 0:56 left in the contest to give King’s a 22-12 lead with two matches left.

The pin proved to be important as Monarch standout Jason Reilly was upset 5-4 by Matt Miller (Muncy, PA) at 197 pounds. Miller had previously upset number-one ranked Brandon Kelly of Wilkes, but Lycoming needed at least a major decision to have any chance at a team victory with one bout left. In the 285-pound match, however, King’s Jim Bishop used a second period escape and third period takedown and riding time point for a 4-1 decision over Joe Ostrowski (Wilkes Barre, PA), a former Meyers High School standout, to close out the match, 25-15.

The feature match of the evening came at 133-pounds between King’s All-American David Morgan, a sixth-place finisher in the 2006 NCAA Division III national tournament, and two-time national qualifier Sean Cullen (Cinnaminson, NJ) of Lycoming. After a scoreless first period, Morgan would register an early second period escape to take a 1-0 lead. Morgan added a takedown for a 3-1 lead but Cullen would escape to cut the lead to 3-1 entering the final frame.  A Cullen escape cut the margin to 3-2. Neither wrestler would score the rest of the way as Morgan would hold on for a one-point victory, giving the Monarchs a 7-0 lead.

At 141-pounds, Lycoming’s Kyle Hopkins (Milton, DE) took down Anthony Miele for a 2-0 lead, then added a second period escape for a 3-0 advantage. Hopkins would then post a takedown for a 5-0 advantage heading into the third period. Miele would choose the top position and rode Hopkins out for the final frame but dropped a 5-0 decision.

In the 149-pound bout, King’s Frankie Davis took a 2-1 first period lead with a takedown of Drew Barder (Millersburg, PA). Barder, however, would escape and took down Davis at the buzzer for a 3-2 advantage en route to a 9-4 decision that cut the King’s lead to 7-6.

At 157, King’s Taylor Green used a takedown and two near fall points for a 4-0 first period lead over Chris Dahlheimer (Felton, PA).  In the second period Green scored a takedown from the neutral position to build a 6-0 lead before Dahlheimer would escape to closed to within 6-1 entering the final period. Dahlheimer would post a neutral position takedown to cut the lead to 6-3 but would draw no closer as Green held on for the victory while giving King’s a 10-6 lead, setting up Dehaut and Wilkinson heroics.

King’s 25 – Lycoming 15
125 -   Jeff Mazurek (K) major dec. Joe Palmitessa (L), 10-2
133 -   David Morgan (K) dec. Sean Cullen (L), 3-2     
141 -   Kyle Hopkins (L) dec. Anthony Miele (K), 5-0
149 -   Drew Barder (L)  dec. Frankie Davis (K), 9-4
157 -   Taylor Green (K) dec. Chris Dahlheimer (L), 6-3
165 -   Drew Dehaut (K) pinned Eric Miller (L), 1:05           
174 -   Clinton Gardner (L) pinned Zach Dietrick (K), 3:49
184 -   Zack Wilkinson (K) pinned Brian Kopesky (L), 6:04      
197 -   Matt Miller (L) dec. Jason Reilly (K), 5-4
285 -   Jim Bishop (K) dec. Joe Ostrowski (L), 4-1