By Frank Dimon and Harold Raker
MILTON -- Miles Wolfe was more than willing to share with Shikellamy teammate Nick Bennick at least a slice of the gold medal that coach Brett Michaels draped around his neck Saturday night. The Braves junior 215-pounder proved he was worthy of at least a portion of Wolfe's and every other Braves' championship award during Shikellamy's tougher-than-expected battle with Jersey Shore in the District 4 Class AAA final of the Dual Meet tournament at Milton.
Bennick upset the Bulldogs' state-ranked Cody Mason 11-8, allowing Shikellamy to close within a point of Jersey Shore with just five bouts remaining and launch the Braves to a 42-21 victory that produced their fourth straight district team title.
The Braves will host District 3 runner-up Spring Grove (22-1) in the first round of the PIAA tournament at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night.
"I'd be glad to share the medal with Nick," Wolfe said. "That was a huge win for him and the team. That was a big upset. If you look at his last match with Mason (an 8-2 loss in their Heartland Athletic Conference-I and Big 7 meeting), this wasn't expected. He stepped it up tonight at a time when the team really needed him."
With the match starting at 125 pounds, the Braves trailed 18-4 after just five bouts, losing the first two bouts by decisions and, after a 12-4 major decision by Shik's Matt Neff at 135, surrendering second-period falls at 140 and 145. But the Braves clawed back and trailed just 21-17 when Bennick, who entered the night with a 14-8 record, stepped onto the mat to face Mason, a senior with an 18-5 mark.
Bennick scored the first takedown and carried a 3-2 lead into the second period. He added a pair of second-period takedowns for 7-4 margin and, after a pair of Mason takedowns in the third period, clinched the win with a spin-behind move late in the period to clinch the win.
Bennick admitted being fully healthy and plenty of film study contributed to the key win.
"I was a little sick last time and I spent a lot of time watching film with coach (Brett) Michaels to see what I did wrong in that match," Bennick said. "That's really all it took. Mason is a tough kid and a big challenge. Last time, when he was taking shots on me I wasn't sprawling as much as I should have. So I worked on sprawling and getting (takedowns from) quick spin-behinds. It was pretty effective tonight."
Michaels admitted that the Braves (14-3) were confident with Jake Witmer (103), Landry Badman (112), and Joey Zoda (119) but that Bennick's victory gave Shikellamy a huge boost.
"In (the 8-2 loss) Nick wasn't in real good position a lot of the time," Michaels said. "We looked at film and changed a couple of things but give Nick all the credit. He has tons of heart and he got a bunch of quick, go-behinds on short offense. That was the difference. He looked good."
Jersey Shore coach Shawn Weaver said the Mason loss was a tough one for the Bulldogs.
"It hurt us, for sure," Weaver said. "Cody has wrestled well for us all year but (Shikellamy) made some adjustments. If we go back and make our adjustments, we'll be fine the next time."
Wolfe beat Colton Thompson 11-2, for the second time this season, getting the major decision with a takedown with five seconds left in the bout at 152. Colby Slonaker followed with an 11-5 decision over Jake Caputo in the next bout. Those wins trimmed Shore's lead from 14 points to 18-11.
Shikellamy clinched the match when, after a forfeit to Nolan Blackwell at 285, the Braves got a pair of lightning quick falls from Jake Witmer (47 seconds) and Badman (41 seconds). Zoda survived a second-period headlock for a 7-5 decision in the final bout of the night.
n Class AA
A controversial fall at 125 pounds, the ninth bout of the meet, helped swing the momentum back to Muncy and the undefeated Indians (24-0) defeated Warrior Run 36-25 in the semifinals.
Warrior Run (18-5) advanced to the semis with a 39-29 quarterfinal win over Mifflinburg.
Wyalusing eliminated Danville 46-15 in the quarterfinals.
No. 14 seed Benton, which entered the tournament early in the week at 8-5, ended the day at 12-5 with a surprise win over the No. 1 seeded Indians, claiming the title match 43-33 to hand Muncy its first loss.
The Tigers advance to the PIAA tournament quarterfinals Friday in Hershey. Muncy will face the District 11 runner-up Tuesday night at Shikellamy.
In the semifinals, Warrior Run and Muncy were battling back and forth and it was tied at 21-all after Muncy's Heath Strickland got a pin at 119.
It appeared Warrior Run would regain the lead when the Defenders' Jeff Stroup had a 4-0 lead on Skyler Ebner with less than a minute to go in their 125-pound bout. But, with the wrestlers starting neutral in the third period, Ebner took Stroup down and turned him onto his back for a pin in 5:20.
The signal for the fall brought Warrior Run coach Wayne Smythe to his feet. Smythe's argument, he explained later, was that the official had put his hands on the backs of the wrestlers, which should only happen to stop the action for a stalemate or potentially dangerous or illegal hold.
Smythe contended that the official's action resulted in Stroup relaxing, and subsequently getting pinned.
"What else are you going to do down there if the referee touches you?'' Smythe asked. "What would be your reaction?''
The coach added, "But my kids wrestled well. (The Indians) were the better team.''
The Defenders were still in contention for a win despite losses by their two best wrestlers, returning state place-winner Biddle and two-time PIAA runner-up Hain. The latter lost 3-2 to unbeaten Zack Strickland at 160.
Wesley Gottschall gave Muncy a 30-21 lead before Defender Chris Pfirman gave his team a shot with a 23-10 win at 135 to close it to 30-25. But the Indians won the final two bouts, a 5-1 decision by Troy Hembury and unbeaten Aaron Fry's 7-3 win over Elias Biddle.
The Defenders got pins by Damon Yocum (171) and Merril Fisher (285).
Against Mifflinburg, Warrior Run got falls from Ethan Randall (119), Pfirman (135), Matt McAndrew (145) and Yocum (160). Mifflinburg, which had lost by 20 points to Warrior Run earlier this season, had pins from David Sheesly (103), Dakota Noll (112) and Jake Heeter (189) and a technical fall from Ethan Midkiff (125).
Mifflinburg coach Dave Murray, talking about closing the gap on the Defenders from their first meet, said, "We got better. The kids are getting confidence from the start of the year to where we are now."
The Defenders took away some momentum that the Wildcats might have picked up when underdog Brad Catherman was battling tough with Pfirman, tying it 4-4 in the third period. But Pfirman took the lead with a reversal and takedown, then caught Catherman for a pin.
"That's an example of how our kids are growing. They are getting better every match," Murray said of Catherman's performance, adding, "Warrior Run is a great team, we had our opportunities."
The Mifflinburg coach agreed that the match-ups were as good as his team could have asked for. "They were what we wanted, but we didn't take advantage," he said.
Danville had a tough road against No. 2 seed Wyalusing, but, despite the score, turned in some respectable performances.
Coach Ron Kanaskie said, "I'm pleased with what we did today. We came in here against a good team, the second-seeded team, and our kids didn't lose any respect."
Danville (19-7) got falls from Dylan Dailey (130) and Travis Bordner (215).
The other points for Danville came on a dramatic win at 189 by Kody Getkin. The junior improved to 23-2 on the season when he scored the winning escape at the buzzer for a 5-4 win over Ryan Hart, who was 23-6 entering the match.
In addition, Danville's Zach Vanderslice had a 4-1 lead on senior Taylor Woznicki (who was 15-4) with a pair of takedowns before the Ram took him down and pinned him in 3:11 at 112.
And Ironman Garret Llewellyn battled unbeaten Mike Cobb through a scoreless first period at 119. Cobb eventually rolled up a 17-2 technical fall in 6:00, but not before Llewelyn scored a takedown of his own in the third.
"They've got a lot of talent and I'm pleased with the way our kids went after them and got in their face right off the bat. I'm happy with that,'' Kanaskie said.
"We have a lot of respect for the teams that are here and we just wanted to have a good showing, and we had a good day," Kanaskie added.
