Tri-Valley garners team title

ORWIGSBURG - Sam Scheib jumped to his feet and clenched his fist. His pin had just moved Tri-Valley two points closer to the team championship January 22 at the Schuylkill League Wrestling Tournament at Blue Mountain High School.

Two bouts later, Evan Heffron broke Blue Mountain's Mitch Myers flat to the mat one last time. As the final seconds of the third period ticked away, Tri-Valley's coaches, wrestlers and fans rose to their feet once again as Heffron finished a 2-0 victory.

In the next match, Lyle Troutman scored early and often as his major decision - tallying yet another bonus point - clinched what the Dawgs have spent years chasing: the league tournament team title.

With five champions and three runners-up, Tri-Valley won with 198 points. Blue Mountain, which had its four-year team title run snapped, crowned four champions for 191 points.

Pine Grove, with two runners-up and five bronze medalists, placed third with 170.5. North Schuylkill (132.5) and Upper Dauphin (127.5) rounded out the top five.

"It is very special, No. 1 mostly because of the match we came off of on Wednesday night,'' Tri-Valley co-head coach Ty Rothermel said. "It was very important to the boys to come back here tonight and give it all they had. They certainly did that.''

Blue Mountain edged Tri-Valley 39-34 last week in a Schuylkill League Division I showdown.

From the first whistle, the Dawgs set about gaining some payback.

They piled up pins, technical falls and major decisions - aggressively pursuing the bonus points that eventually put them over the top.

"The kids understand that every time they step on the mat, it's not just about winning,'' Rothermel said. "It's about getting and achieving as much as you can.

"If that means letting a kid up and taking him down five times in the third period to try to get a tech fall, there's no questions asked,'' he added. "They know that's expected from them every time they step on the mat.

"Yes, it can be burdensome because we're facing that every dual meet, too. But the maturity on this team is second to none, and they truly are a team on and off the mat.''

Blue Mountain placed 10 wrestlers in the top six, with Nick Anthony (120), Corey Keener (126), Cody Kievman (132) and Alex Gosch (138) capturing gold. Keener notched his fourth league championship and was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler.

In head-to-head bouts in the finals against Tri-Valley, Keener (24-1) pinned Hunter Harner in 46 seconds and Gosch (26-4) held off Anthony Snyder 10-9.

A two-time league silver medalist, Kievman (25-2) climbed to the top of the podium by dismantling Upper Dauphin's Ethan Stiles by technical fall, 21-5 in 4:11.

Seeded sixth, Anthony (6-1) knocked off No. 1 seed Jimmy Harris of Pottsville 9-3 on the strength of a pair of takedowns and a tilt.

That four-bout run gave Blue Mountain a chance to grapple the team title away, but Tri-Valley answered with three straight victories and two more down the stretch.

At 145, Blake Bowman (21-4) became the Dawgs' first champ with a 12-5 decision over Pine Grove's Eli Brill (18-4).

At 152, junior Ty Schoffstall (16-2) repeated as a champion with a dominant 23-10 major decision over Halifax' Robbie Moretz (20-2). Schoffstall piled up 10 takedowns - five in the third period alone.

"This is great,'' Schoffstall said. "Getting individual titles and the team title - you can't do any better than that.''

Scheib (20-2) also became a two-time league champion, cradling Tamaqua's Brandan Silkowski for the fall in 2:24 at 160 pounds.

At 182, the second-seeded Heffron (18-4) used an escape and a stalling point for a 2-0 win over the top-seeded Myers (23-4).

"I had to get my confidence back. This is a good way to do it,'' Heffron said.

"It was crazy,'' he added about the crowd reaction. "Beating Blue Mountain in their home school, especially after our match (last Wednesday's dual), it's a great feeling. It's awesome.''

And at 195, Troutman (20-3) became Tri-Valley's fifth champion with a 13-2 major decision over Williams Valley's J.R. Rummel.

As a team, the Dawgs accumulated 13 pins, two technical falls and four major decisions during the tournament. In addition to the bonus points, they put themselves in position to win the team title by going 8-for-8 in the semifinal round.

"That was really exciting,'' Scheib said of his pin in the finals. "That's great, finally beating Blue Mountain, that's awesome.''

Other champions included Tamaqua's Colin Mashack (25-1) at 106, Upper Dauphin's Derrick Garber (26-5) at 113, Pottsville's Shawn Cicero (22-2) at 170, Halifax' Joey Kaufman (11-0) at 220 and Schuylkill Haven's Nate Kramer (21-2) at 285.

A runner-up last season, Mashack scored a pair of takedowns and three back points in the first period, plus some tough riding, to defeat Tri-Valley's Caleb Bordner 7-1.

Garber knocked off defending champion Bailey Roos of Pottsville 11-4. A four-point near fall with armbars toward the end of the second period put Garber in control.

Cicero overpowered North Schuylkill's Brett Paul, hooking his chin and throwing him to his back for the fall in 3:49.

Kaufman won his second straight league title with a 10-4 decision over Mahanoy Area's Gage Cara. Kaufman won at 171 last season.

Kramer needed eight minutes - six in regulation and three overtime periods - to turn back Pine Grove's John Deibler 3-2 in the tiebreaker.

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