Berlin Brothersvalley bests North Star, secures Somerset County wrestling championship

BERLIN — Berlin Brothersvalley junior Cory Jose has a knack from coming up big in the clutch.

A year ago, he helped the Mountaineers capture a come-from-behind victory over North Star in his first season on the mats.

Top performers: Somerset County top basketball, wrestling, rifle, swimming, hockey performers: Jan. 21-27

Tuesday, the heavyweight completed another comeback, pinning Ethan Yoder at the 4:22 mark in the final match of the night as the Mountaineers downed the Cougars 37-31.

"I knew our team needed the win, and I just went out there and did what I had to do," Jose said. "I was just trying to wear him down the whole time, stay on his head and do work in the third period."

Taking over: Fochtman follows familiar path to Berlin wrestling post

The match was tied 5-5 entering the third period. Jose continued to attack Yoder, eventually securing the fall.

"He was gassed and I wasn't," Jose said. "All our conditioning we do, I just thank my coaches for that."

Back-to-back county champs

The victory moved Berlin to 6-1 on the season, locking up its second straight Somerset County championship.

Head coach and Berlin alumnus Braden Fochtman is only in his second season at the helm of the Mountaineers. He has pulled all the right strings thus far.

"Emotions are flying high with our team," Fochtman said. "Everybody was involved in that win, and it feels really good. This was the first match we had everyone down to their weight. To see them out there wrestling at those weights, you could tell it was a little bit of a struggle. Seeing them produce over and over, they were out there competing for our team."

A leg up

Barring a catastrophic collapse in their final dual meet against Northern Bedford, the Mountaineers will be the No. 2 seed in the District 5 team duals, which begin Feb. 3.

The top two seeds receive a bye. The No. 3 seed will host the No. 6 seed while the No. 4 seed will entertain the No. 5 seed.

The semifinals will be held on Feb. 5 at top-seeded Chestnut Ridge, with the finals to follow.

North Star is still without 2021 state medalist Connor Yoder. The sophomore was injured during the second week of practice and has yet to wrestle this season. He has started doing light work on the mats and could potentially return for the postseason.

The Cougars will likely be the No. 3 seed. As long as North Star is not upset in the first round, they will see the Mountaineers again.

"Just having the momentum of beating them once, hopefully that will provide a spark to do it once again," Fochtman said of a potential rematch with North Star.

Back and forth battle

North Star (5-2) led 12-0 after back-to-back forfeits at 113 and 120 to start the match.

However, Hunter Cornell earned a hard-fought 3-0 decision over Thanyal Miller, and Landon Ulderich picked up a commanding 11-0 victory over Braden Livingston at 132 to trim the deficit to five, 12-7.

North Star's Cameron Snoeberger bested Grant Fisher 10-4 in the 138 match. Cayden Turner followed with a 15-5 victory over Conlin Gair at 145, before Timmy Tretter pinned Owen Villenueve at 1:07 to give the Cougars a 25-7 advantage.

The tides turned in favor of the Mountaineers from there on out.

Nic Gerber pinned Brennan Plunk in just 33 seconds at 160 pounds. Berlin won the next three matches by forfeit to take a 31-25 lead.

With 106 being a forfeit for the Cougars, the match came down to the heavyweight battle.

Yoder took an early 2-0 advantage, but Jose would not go down without a fight. He evened the score and found a way to get Yoder to the mat to tally a pin and the victory.

Return to Berlin

North Star head coach Sal Lascari V made his return to Berlin on Tuesday. Lascari coached the Mountaineers for three seasons, guiding the team to a 33-22 mark.

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He returned to coach at his alma mater this season after a year away from the sport. Coaching against the team he once led was special for Lascari.

"It was nice to see a match like this, because these types of dual meets are rare these days," Lascari said. "This was bitter sweet. It feels good to get in an atmosphere where it's loud, stands are full and it's a tight dual meet. ... They just don't happen much anymore.

"To be here in Berlin and have this dual meet against some of the guys I've coached and coached with was really fun. It was a great opportunity, and I am looking forward to a battle against these guys again."

Fochtman has nothing but respect for Lascari. The two coaches went head to head in what turned out to be a thriller.

"This was the coach who was here right before me," Fochtman said. "A couple of the guys on our staff had him as a coach and know how good of a coach he is. We knew how prepared they would be to wrestle us, but we were able to go out and execute what we know how to do.

"I can't say enough about Sal. He is an amazing coach, and I got to work under him a little bit when I was in college. This was just a great win to get."

Adam Ripple is the Daily American sports editor. He can be reached at 814-444-5926. Follow him on Twitter @ARipple_DAsport. Follow Daily American Sports on Facebook.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Berlin Brothersvalley edges North Star behind late rally