SUNBURY -- Eric Dock was one move away from a loss that would have put his Mifflinburg team down by at least five points. As it turned out, the Wildcats' junior 160-pounder was also one move away from a win that would tilt Thursday's Heartland Athletic Conference Division I meet in the Wildcats' favor.
Dock, who was 3-8 coming into this key matchup, was down 6-3 to Shikellamy's Josh Derr when Mifflinburg coach Dave Murray called out to him, saying, "We need this one."
As if a light went on, Dock, taking advantage of a mistake by Derr, took the Shikellamy sophomore down and used a half-nelson to pin him in 3 minutes. That gave Mifflinburg the lead for good as the Wildcats rolled to a stunning 50-19 victory.
"When I felt that he was riding high, I had the leg and I (decided to) swim for the head and thought that would be good enough to get my two (points). Since I had the half sunk, I knew I would be able to pin him that way," Dock said.
Once he had the opening, Dock knew what he needed to do. "I wanted to put him away because then I wouldn't have to go another period worrying about it going either way," said Dock, who bumped up from 152.
Both Murray and first-year Shikellamy coach John Supsic pointed to Dock's win as a turning point. Murray said the 160 bout was one the coaches listed as a must win when they knew the meet would start at 126.
"And he's down by two takedowns and we knew he needed to pick it up and he did," Murray said. "He did outstanding; that was a great effort. He got (team) wrestler of the match for us; he deserved it."
Supsic said, "160 was definitely a match changer, that's a match we should have won, and then getting the fall the other way ..."
Shikellamy (2-2 overall, 1-1 HAC-I) won only two bouts the rest of the way and Mifflinburg (4-0, 3-0) became the first team to ever beat the Braves in a HAC-I meet, snapping a streak of 20 wins over three-plus seasons. It was Mifflinburg's first win over Shikellamy since 2002.
Mifflinburg's David Sheesley, who posted a 12-4 major decision over Shikellamy's Jake Witmer in a battle of outstanding seniors at 113, said, "It feels great. I thought it was going to be a lot closer, but I'm glad we got this win. I could tell the boys were ready. They looked like they were ready and it was a great match for us, a big win."
Although the outcome of the meet was decided by the time Sheesley and Witmer met in the next-to-last bout, Sheesley (12-1), coming off his 100th career win last weekend, put on a clinic against his rival.
"My goal coming out was to go hard and not let him get any breaks because I knew he is good enough, if you give him a chance, he can close it. I kept taking good shots and it was some hustle and some weird positions, but I came out on top," Sheesley said.
In a meet that started at 126, Shikellamy's only lead of the night came after Tom Harmon edged Dan Danowsky 4-3 at 152, giving the Braves a 12-10 lead. But after Dock's comeback win -- and a one-point team deduction from Shikellamy for unsportsmanlike conduct -- it was 16-12 Mifflinburg and counting.
Clark Wagner gave Mifflinburg its first lead at 6-3 when he barred up Anthony Best for a fall in 4:39 at 132. Alan Miller followed with a major decision for Mifflinburg before Shikellamy senior Matt Neff used a half-nelson to deck Abram Miller in 5:42 for a 12-10 Braves advantage.
Ryan Gessner (170), Aaron Shrawder (220), Nazar Mironenko (285) and Cole Walter (120) also had pins for the winners, who had a 24-15 advantage in takedowns. Dwayne Pepper (195) had the only other pin for the Braves.
Supsic said, "We got pinned so many times tonight. We need to get pins where we need to get them and we can't be getting pinned so easily. I'm disappointed in that aspect of the match."
