SELINSGROVE -- Tanner Fasold was behind 5-0 and nearly cradled for a pin at the end of the first period. So, a one-point deficit with 14 seconds left was not going to faze him.
In a 126-pound bout that had more twists and turns than Joey Chestnut's stomach, the Braves' senior scored a takedown at the edge of the mat against Selinsgrove's Tom Kramer as time expired for an 11-10 win. It helped spark the underdog Braves to a 36-30 Heartland Athletic Conference Division I win over the rival Seals before a raucous overflow crowd in the Selinsgrove High School gym on Senior Night.
The Seals (11-8, 4-3 HAC-I) won the toss, giving the Braves (3-8, 2-5) match-ups they did not want. But Shikellamy's early success, starting with a 3-2 win in the opening bout (at 195) by Dwayne Pepper over Anthony Longer, made it a moot point.
"He wrestled really well and I felt a lot better about our situation after he won," Shikellamy coach John Supsic said of Pepper's win.
The Seals were looking to get their first win over the Braves in 34 years, and Supsic told his guys before the meet that, in such a big rivalry, and with a large crowd on hand, 'If you can't rise to the occasion for this match there is nothing you can rise to the occasion for. I thought our kids rose to the occasion. We won the close bouts, we won the bouts we needed, and our kids just wrestled hard and tough.".
Seals coach Seth Martin was happy to win the coin toss for only the second time this season. "I knew if we could get to Max Beach's match at 152, and still be in it, we could get bonus points from each of those. We didn't win one match head-to-head until 152, but we were still in it," he noted.
"I'm not going to put any blame on any individual person, it's a team effort, but I knew we could do it tonight. Man, I knew it could be done," he said.
However, Tanner's buzzer-beating win set the table and a victory by Shikellamy's John Rohrbach at 160 to put the match out of reach for the Seals.
Even though Shikellamy forfeited two of the first four bouts, it made up for it by winning the first eight wrestled, three of them by fall.
"They wanted to win tonight and a lot of kids just gutted through situations. It wasn't technique, it was pure heart." Supsic said.
Shikellamy led 15-12 through six bouts, before Fasold matched up with Kramer, who was 12-2. After trailing 5-0 after one, Fasold, who was 16-6, chose the bottom in the second and tied it with a reversal and three-point nearfall as the period ended. Fasold let Kramer up then took him down and cradled him for two points and a 9-6 lead. But Kramer rolled out for a reversal and added two back points for a 10-9 lead before they went out of bounds.
"I was just getting real tired. My forearms were completely beat. I just slipped off and he reversed me and took me to my back, but I knew I couldn't give up three back points," Fasold said. "I quickly got off and saw there were only 15 seconds left and I knew I had to get out and if I reversed him I won."
On the restart, Fasold stood, Kramer ran him to the edge and, just as the scoreboard clock struck 0.0, referee Bill Pasukinis awarded the winning two-point reversal.
"I didn't think the ref would give it to me until I got my hips up, because that happened to me before. It was a good win for me. It was awesome just looking at my coaches and my team; that was a thing I will always remember."
Said Supsic, "He found a way to win."
After Shik's Tyler Hepler won 5-1 at 132 and Jake Hummel and Matt Neff got back-to-back falls on half-nelsons, a 42-second fall by Beach made it 33-18 Shikellamy.
Next up was Rohrbach, who joined the team at mid-season and was 2-2, versus veteran Nick Kratzer (21-7).
Rohrbach didn't expect to face Kratzer. When he saw he was wrestling Kratzer, Rohrbach said, "I didn't know what to think. I just knew I should be on my toes and watch what I'm doing."
After a scoreless first period, Rohrbach escaped and scored a takedown, this one also at the buzzer, for a 3-0 lead. Kratzer escaped and picked up a penalty point in the third, but Rohrbach had a meet-clinching 3-2 decision. The takedown at the buzzer proved to be the difference, for Rohrbach and the team. "That felt so good. It was great. At first I didn't think the ref was going to call it. I was so happy," he said.
Jake Witmer (113) also had a pin for the Braves while the Seals also got deck jobs from Eric Eaton (170) and Austin Lewis (182) to end the meet. The Braves had an 11-5 advantage in takedowns and the Seals' first one didn't come until the seventh bout, by Kramer.
Assistant sports editor Harold Raker covers high school wrestling for The Daily Item. E-mail comments to hraker@dailyitem.com
