MANDATA — It really didn’t mean all that much for either team, but the way Line Mountain and Tri-Valley went at it Thursday night, you’d have thought the winner got a late pass into the state team championships.
The Eagles’ Garrett Kieffer and Collin Klinger scored pins in the final two bouts at 285 and 106, respectively, to give Line Mountain a 42-41, non-league win over the Bulldogs (13-4).
Line Mountain (19-2)achieved the win despite having several starters out of the lineup because of injuries.
“I think we needed a win like this after the District Duals,” Line Mountain head coach Mike Martz said, referring to his team being eliminated from that tournament after being within a point of making the final because of injuries. “This was a real good win against a quality team.”
“We were looking for some good matchups even more than going for the win,” Tri-Valley co-head coach Dave Boltz said. “This was a real good match to get ready for the postseason.”
Line Mountain was without starters Gary Laudenslager (concussion effects), Austin Baumert (broken hand) and Brendan Renn (sprained foot), and took some tough losses in matchups as well.
The Eagles took a 12-0 lead on a forfeit for Cam Newman at 113 and a pin by Brian Earlston over Kyle Stephen in 3:13. But Cole Hauck, wrestling up two weights at 126, lost by technical fall to Caleb Bordner, 19-1 in 5:13, and Blake Carl was pinned by Sammy Hepler at 132.
“That (Hauck vs. Bordner) was their pick,” Martz said. “They kind of surprised us by forfeiting to Cam.”
Line Mountain picked up another forfeit at 138, but the tide started to turn then. Kenny Boyer (30-8), leading 5-0 over Chase Schaeffer at 145, was put on his back and pinned; Dawson Schwalm pinned Chris Koperna at 152 and Anthony Snyder took a forfeit for the Bulldogs at 160, giving Tri-Valley a 29-18 lead.
Line Mountain got a key win at 170, though, when Ethan Long (8-18) pinned Shykir Bethea in 5:20.
The Eagles gave up another forfeit at 182 to Hunter Harner, where Renn would have been.
“We had to forfeit to two of their better kids because we just didn’t have anybody,” Martz said.
The Eagles’ Riley Shaffer pinned Cole Smeltz at 195 to bring Line Mountain within five at 35-30. but Danny Scheib returned the favor by pinning Rogen Shaffer at 220, giving the Dawgs a 41-30 lead.
Kieffer (29-7) pinned Alan Renninger in 1:38, and Klinger then sealed things with a pin of Dawson Boltz at 106.
“I didn’t know what his record was; I was just going for the pin,” Klinger said. “Definitely this is a big win for us. This will give us a lot of confidence going into (Southern) sectionals.”
Line Mountain 42, Tri-Valley 41
113 — Newman (LM) won by forfeit; 120 — Earlston (LM) pinned Stephen, 3:13; 126 — Bordner (TV) tech. fall Hauck, 19-1, 5:13; 132 — Hepler (TV) pinned Carl, 3:28; 138 — C. Shaffer (LM) won by forfeit; 145 — Schaeffer (TV) pinned Boyer, 3:18; 152 — Schwalm (TV) pinned Koperna, 2:21; 160 — Snyder (TV) won by forfeit; 170 — Long (LM) pinned Bethea, 5:20; 182 — Harner (TV) won by forfeit; 195 — Ri. Shaffer (LM) pinned Smeltz, 3:56; 220 — Scheib (TV) pinned Ro. Shaffer, 1:27; 285 — Kieffer (LM) pinned Renninger, 1:38; 106 — Klinger (LM) pinned Boltz, 1:50
Blue Mountain 63
Tamaqua 16
TAMAQUA — Ben McQuillen (120), Colton Bender (132), Christian Gosch (145) and Lucas Forbes (152) posted falls as the Eagles (17-2, 6-0 D-I) clinched the Schuylkill League Division I championship.
Blue Mountain has the tiebreaker by virtue of victories over Pottsville and Tri-Valley.
Tanner McHugh (126) won by major decision for the Blue Raiders (0-21, 0-6).
120 — McQuillen (BM) pinned Stocker, :44; 126 — McHugh (T) maj. dec. Sincavage, 10-1; 132 — Bender (BM) pinned Smith, 1:06; 138 — Rynkiewicz (T) won by forfeit; 145 — Gosch (BM) pinned Hinkle, 1:29; 152 — Forbes (BM) pinned Szabo, 1:57; 160 — Cagle (BM) won by forfeit; 170 — Krammes (BM) won by forfeit; 182 — Visconti (BM) dec. Calkins, 7-4; 195 — Rice (BM) won by forfeit; 220 — Noecker (BM) won by forfeit; 285 — Dougherty (BM) won by forfeit; 106 — Mader (T) won by forfeit; 113 — Blankenhorn (BM) won by forfeit
North Schuylkill 54
Oley Valley 21
OLEY — Falls by Owen Boyer (106), Mason Madden-Edwards (113), Corbin Kessler (126), Joe Alexander (145)Brady Mickatavage (170) and Nate Gadinski (285) powered the Spartans (17-4) to a non-league victory.
Jess Wetzel (132) and C.J. Steinhilber (182) added decision wins for North Schuylkill.
106 — Boyer (NS) pinned Sasig, 1:35; 113 — Madden-Edwards (NS) pinned Heffner, 1:56; 120 — Guldin (OV) pinned Zaharick, 3:06; 126 — Kessler (NS) pinned Kubiz, 3:02; 132 — Wetzel (NS) dec. Ronco, 3-2; 138 — Lambert (OV) dec. Reinoehl, 9-6; 145 — Alexander (NS) pinned J. Wildemuth, 1:42; 152 — Adam (OV) pinned Price, 2:31; 160 — Wagner (OV) won by forfeit; 170 — Mickatavage (NS) pinned Short, :52; 182 — Steinhilber (NS) dec. C. Wildemuth, 5-0; 195 — Hummel (NS) won by forfeit; 220 — Tarantelli (NS) won by forfeit; 285 — Gadinski (NS) pinned Zweizig, 4:53
Girls’ Swimming
Blue Mountain 137
Mount Carmel 26
ORWIGSBURG — Rebecca Donohue (200 free, 50 free, 400 free relay) and Carleigh Bogotuik (100 free, 100 breaststroke, 400 free relay) each won two individual events and competed on a winning relay team in the Eagles’ non-league rout of the Red Tornadoes.
200 medley relay — Blue Mountain (Reidler, E. Donohue, Jacobson, Zehner) 2:14.96; 200 freestyle — R. Donohue (BM) 2:13.85; 200 IM — Zehner (BM) 2:41.64; 50 freestyle — R. Donohue (BM) 28.35; Diving — No event; 100 butterfly — Laughlin (BM) 1:13.68; 100 freestyle — Bogotuik (BM) 1:01.61; 500 freestyle — Laubenstein (BM) 6:23.44; 200 freestyle relay — Blue Mountain (Harding, Reidler, Redanauer, Laughlin) 2:00.20; 100 backstroke — E. Donohue (BM) 1:12.16; 100 breaststroke — Bogotuik (BM) 1:23.70; 400 freestyle relay — Blue Mountain (Jacobson, Krause, Bogotuik, R. Donohue) 4:32.01
Boys’ Swimming
Blue Mountain 129
Mount Carmel 27
ORWIGSBURG — Mark Boran (100 fly, 100 breaststroke, 200 medley relay, 200 free relay) won two events and participated on two winning relay teams as the Eagles rolled to a non-league win over the Red Tornadoes.
200 medley relay — Blue Mountain (Boran, Marino, Johnson, McLaughlin) 1:50.23; 200 freestyle — Wessner (BM) 2:09.22; 200 IM — Wilson (BM) 2:43.31; 50 freestyle — Usuka (BM) 27.05; Diving — Luckenbill (BM) 175.15; 100 butterfly — Boran (BM) 1:02.12; 100 freestyle — Boyer (BM) 59.45; 500 freestyle — Hughes (BM) 6:16.79; 200 freestyle relay — Blue Mountain (Johnson, McLaughlin, Boran, Marino) 1:34.72; 100 backstroke — Marino (BM) 59.81; 100 breaststroke — Boran (BM) 1:09.65; 400 freestyle relay — Blue Mountain (Wessner, Johnson, Hughes, Kintzel) 4:22.53