SELINSGROVE — Dave Murray showed some concern when Mifflinburg fell behind early in its regular-season opener against Selinsgrove on Thursday night. His trepidation, however, proved to be without merit.
The Wildcat mentor knew once his squad reached the strength of the team's lineup the results were capable of being reversed.
Freshman Nazar Mironenko earned a hard-fought 5-4 decision at 285 to ignite an eight-bout win streak as the Wildcats erased a 19-point deficit, downing the Seals, 49-24, and spoil the head coaching debut of Selinsgrove's Seth Martin.
"There's always reason for concern because Selinsgrove is a solid team and has quality wrestlers throughout its lineup," Murray said. "Starting at 145 was a boost for them but I knew once we got into the strength of our lineup we were capable of making a comeback provided we wrestled up to our capability."
Coming off an 11th-place finish in the Top Hat Tournament in Williamsport, Mifflinburg notched its initial victory of the year with a comeback that featured one forfeit and technical fall against the Seals (0-1), who were experiencing their first action of the season. Four consecutive pins to turn the final outcome into a rout.
Mironenko, who finished fifth at the Top Hat, broke a 3-3 tie with Isaiah Shipman with a takedown in the second period and then survived an escape in the third to register a 5-4 win. Brendon Hicks followed with a forfeit win at 103 to pull the visitors to within 10 at 24-14, before Mifflinburg showed its pinning prowess over the next six matches.
Junior David Sheesley, runner-up at the Top Hat and seventh in last year's state meet, flattened Justin Cortez in 1:01 at 112, before Clark Wagner's 20-4 technical fall at 119 propelled the Wildcats into the lead, 25-24. The Seals' middleweights were no match for their counterparts in the next four bouts, losing all by falls.
"I don't know if it was because of the way they came back but we seemed to lose our offensive aggressiveness as the match went on," Martin said. "Mifflinburg has a very nice team but they brought out areas where we need to improve and, surprisingly one part is our physical conditioning, which we will address in the mat room starting tomorrow."
Dakota Noll (125) extended the Mifflinburg advantage with a fall in 1:28 followed by Zane Rowe's pin at 130 in 1:48. Brad Catherman notched a quick 40-second win at 135 capped by Alan Miller's second-period fall.
"I saw our wrestlers becoming more aggressive as the match went on," Murray said. "You could see they started to believe in their ability and the results came through out on the mat."
Selinsgrove gave its fans something to cheer about early when Cody Zechman flattened Dan Danowsky in 1:54 at 145 and Eric Lose followed with a convincing 10-4 decision at 152. Ty Walter, who collected 34 wins as a freshman, broke the streak with a 19-4 technical fall at 160 for the Wildcats before Eric Eaton (171) and Logan Hetherington (215) sandwiched falls around Anthony Longer's 4-0 decision at 189 to give the home team with its 24-5 lead.
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