TURBOTVILLE — No wrestling team in District 4 has been hotter over the last three weeks than Mifflinburg. The Wildcats haven't lost since an early season defeat to Class AAA power Shikellamy and, heading into their Heartland Athletic Conference crossover match with Warrior Run, had won seven consecutive dual meets.
The Defenders, with only two seniors in the lineup, carried an uncharacteristic 2-4 record into Tuesday night's showdown and managed to cool off the Wildcats early, nursing a tenuous 17-13 lead after half the bouts had been wrestled. Mifflinburg turned up the heat over the final seven bouts, though, getting five falls, a forfeit, and a decision and rolling to a 52-17 win.
Mifflinburg coach Dave Murray said his team is becoming more consistent as the win streak mounts.
"We are finally performing consistently," Murray said after his team upped its record to 9-1. "Our goal has been to get better and I thought tonight we did. "(Warrior Run) always comes at you and you never know when they are going to hit you with a big (move). They wrestled tough and our kids wrestled tough."
The Wildcats won three of the first four bouts to take a 13-5 lead. In the opening bout at 119, freshman Clark Wagner blanked junior Andrew Yetter, 8-0. The Defenders Jared Watson improved to 7-2 this season with his own shutout, a 15-0 (5:44) technical fall over Dakota Noll at 125. At 130, Miff's Zane Rowe upped his record to 16-4 with a second period fall over Doug McCarty and Brad Catherman turned in on his better efforts this year with an 8-2 win over Lake Randall.
But the Defenders stormed back to take a 17-13 lead with wins in the next three weights. Brad Hain started the run for the Defenders when he pinned Dan Danowsky, subbing for Alan Miller at 140, in 3:17. Garrett Moser followed with a 6-1 decision over Eric Dock on the strength of a four-point third period. Matt McAndrew finished the run, overcoming a cramp in his right thigh to pull out a 4-3 win over Jordan Catherman at 152.
"We've seen improvement in this team but even (in that stretch) there were errors made that we have to correct," Warrior Run coach Wayne Smythe said. "From top to bottom, we just have to continue to work until things start falling in place."
Mifflinburg took command with its blazing finish over the final seven bouts. Ty Walter, at 160, started the streak, running out to a 17-5 advantage before pinning freshman Daniel Breech in 3:19 and Ryan Gessner racked up five takedowns and twice avoided cement mixer attempts by Logan Shady for a 14-7 decision at 171 that handed the lead (22-17) back to the Wildcats.
Trent Lyons (189), Mark DeFord (215), and Nazar Mironenko (285) quickly pushed the lead 40-17 with first period pins. Lyons decked Curtis Hendershot in 1:48 while DeFord, the hero in the Wildcats win over Lewisburg last week, produced a fall over Phil Leonard in 1:03. Freshman heavyweight Mironenko stopped Austin Fielder in :49.
"We which stretches where the scoreboard wasn't going to look pretty and the stretches where I thought it was going to favor us," Murray said. "I thought our kids did a great job fighting, even the kids that lost. It was a great overall team effort. Trent Lyons is getting offensive and he's attacking the pin which we have been working on in practice. DeFord is getting confidence, getting it done. Nazar is just getting better every match."
After Warrior Run forfeited to Brendon Hicks at 103, David Sheesly pinned Darrin Heddings in 1:20 to complete the romp.
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