By Frank Dimon
SUNBURY — It took an all-star event, but Milton’s Cy Heller finally got the redemption he’d been hoping for since the 160-pound final of the Darren Klingerman Invitational tournament.
In that season-opener in early December, Heller dropped a controversial 6-4 decision to Bloomsburg’s Tony Tarlecky. Wrestling at 171 pounds Tuesday night in the third annual Northumberland County Recreation Commission all-star dual meet that featured seniors from 10 area teams, Heller dominated Tarlecky with a 16-0 (6:00) technical fall in one of the highlight bouts wrestled at the Shikellamy Field House.
“I’ve been looking for that match for a long time, since the DKI,” Heller admitted. “I didn’t get my chance for a rematch during the season, so I kind of had to take it serious to show what I am worth. It felt good. It was a privilege to wrestle here with all these good wrestlers. It was a nice time.”
Against Tarlecky, Heller opened up after a scoreless first period, getting a takedown and tilting Tarlecky twice for two-point nearfalls. Tarlecky chose neutral to start the third period but Heller, who will try to walk on at Division 1 Edinboro next year, converted the takedown and then added three sets of backpoints for the technical fall.
“This match was personal for Cy,” Milton coach Bob Greenly said. “He was upset when he got beat at the DKI and I was hoping they would meet in our dual meet, but Tarlecky was sick that night. Cy doesn’t like to get beat and he wrestled hard tonight.”
Shikellamy’s six-man contingent of seniors went 4-2 on the night. At 130, Joey Zoda picked up a takedown with 10 seconds left in the second period and outlasted Montoursville’s Ben Carey, 3-1. The Braves’ Jake Teisher followed with an entertaining 8-6 win over Mifflinburg’s Ethan Midkiff, getting a pair of backpoints in the last five seconds when he rolled the Wildcats’ state qualifier.
“This is the last match of my career and I just wanted to have fun with it,” Teisher said. “It’s a little disappointing knowing that I probably won’t ever wrestle again, but I’m happy that I can eat whatever I want now.”
Shikellamy’s Mike Barnhart picked up the quickest fall of the night when he decked Shamokin’s Pat Shinskie in just 32 seconds in one of two bouts at 152. The Braves’ Miles Wolfe, a Class AAA state qualifier, eased past Montoursville’s Caleb Lomax with a pair of takedowns and a reversal in a 6-2 victory.
Shikellamy’s Tony Waltz (152) and Colby Slonaker (171) both lost. Waltz dropped a 13-5 major decision to Warrior Run’s Elias Biddle, while Slonaker was topped by Lewisburg’s Brian VanSickle, 8-2.
In the most entertaining bout of the night, Shamokin’s Derek Shingara, a three-time state qualifier for the Indians, converted a takedown 17 seconds into overtime to pull out a 10-8 win over Warrior Run’s Chris Pfirman at 145.
“I was slowing down in the third period and didn’t want to go to overtime,” Shingara admitted. “It was a good thing I was still in wrestling shape a little bit, at least.”
Chris Henley (160) and Keegan Polastre (189) added wins for the Indians. Henley rolled over Selinsgrove’s Trent Blair, 19-3 (5:55), while Polastre blanked Jake Heeter of Mifflinburg, 6-0.
Other winners were Jeff Stroup of Warrior Run, Chris Tucker of Milton, and Garrett Graham of Bloomsburg. Selinsgrove’s Spencer Myers wrapped up the night with a second-period pin over Nick Dawson of Montoursville. Myers, who will wrestle in the prestigious Dapper Dan Classic in Pittsburgh on Saturday, built a 6-0 lead and got the fall in 2:59.
