LEWISBURG -- One of the teams in Thursday night's Heartland Athletic Conference Division II showdown was going to celebrate a milestone before leaving the Donald H. Eichhorn Middle School gymnasium.
Lewisburg coach Jim Snyder was seeking his 200th career victory and Warrior Run coach Wayne Smythe was looking to guide the Defenders to the school's 600th wrestling win.
In a meet that began at 138 pounds, it was tied at 15-all after six contests -- a score fitting such an occasion.
Unfortunately for Snyder and his Green Dragons, and the large crowd, they had pretty much fired all of their bullets. After Brandon Smith put Lewisburg up 21-15 with a fall at 195, the Green Dragons, for a variety of reasons, forfeited the next five bouts. This one was, literally, history. Warrior Run got the milestone win 54-21 to improve to 14-2 overall and 5-1 HAC-II.
Smythe said he had no idea that Lewisburg would forfeit those bouts, but he said, "It would have helped (the Green Dragons be more competitive), but I'm sure they did what was best for them and that's the way it should be."
Of the 600 wins, Smythe, who has about 480 of them, said, "We are proud of those who preceded this team. It's an accumulation of wins by teams from many different eras, and we take pride in the way they led before us. We are hoping to take on the challenge of following what they've done."
Snyder was hamstrung with five starters out, including 285-pounder Kyle Santorine, who, after pinning his opponent versus Milton on Tuesday, fell awkwardly and sustained a torn ACL and torn meniscus. He is out for the season.
"And he was really coming on," Snyder said.
In addition, 106-pounder Jeff Steele is out with an injury. The others are out for health reasons (skin problems and flu), except for lightweight Joe Roman (chorus).
Before things fell apart, Warrior Run's Brad Hain (138) and Lewisburg's Jordan Danowsky (145) traded falls and Matt McAndrew put the Defenders up 9-6 with a 4-1 decision.
The teams traded pins again with Max Reed, recently back from an injury, using a far-side cradle for a fall in 5:11 at 160, then the Defenders' Garrett Moser picked up a fall in 2:54 with an arm bar.
In the best bout of the night, at 182, Lewisburg's Patrick Ostrowsky and Daniel Breech battled through regulation at 1-1 before Ostrowsky hit a high single-leg for a takedown with 12.6 seconds left in the sudden-death period, tying the meet at 15-all.
After the run of forfeits, Warrior Run's Jared Watson picked up a pin with a cradle in 35 seconds and the Defenders' Doug McCarty finished it up with a 7-2 win.
"I was happy with the kids that wrestled tonight," Snyder said, but, he joked, "but that 'no wrestler' guy stinks. He cost us 30 points, and it's a big family, too."
The Green Dragons dropped to 13-6, 4-2, and, because of the health problems, decided to scratch from this week's District 4 Duals Tournament.
"It's something we hate to do, that's one of our goals, and we qualified, we just can't do it. This isn't clearing up in a week," he said.
Warrior Run is also qualified for the tournament, no matter the outcome of its five meets on Saturday in the Jersey Shore Duals.
Snyder said, "(Warrior Run) is a good team. Those guys are going to push some people. They have great balance and depth, so they can move around. The Mifflinburgs, Wyalusings and Central Columbias of the world better not overlook these guys, because they will bite them."
