Reynolds' rumored demise dispelled: Raiders edge Hornets for District 10 team title

Ed Farrell, The Herald, Sharon, Pa.
·8 min read

Feb. 27—SHARON — It has been rumored Reynolds wrestling is not what it once was. But following the annual District 10 Championships, it can be reported Reynolds' demise has been greatly exaggerated.

Coach Casey Taylor's Raiders — without a single individual champion — piled up points in the consolation rounds and it was enough to edge Hickory, 146.5 to 142.

According to Reynolds Wrestling web site it is the program's 28th District 10 title. Earlier this season the proud program annexed its 900 dual-match win.

"We had a lot of ups and downs and there's been a lot of highs and lows, but I like to be pretty steady with it. (Satur)day was a good day for the kids; they really battled through," Taylor praised from the Sharon Tiger Gymnasium mats.

"We had a saying that 'the demise of Reynolds Wrestling is exaggerated,' and we have a lot of work to do in order to keep that phrase going," Taylor continued, "but (Satur)day was a very good day for (the Raiders), and I'm very proud of their efforts, very proud of the way they handled themselves on and off the mats, and the overall week they had in preparation to get here."

While Hickory split its quartet of title tilts — with brothers Louie (106) and Carter Gill (145) recording dominant 14-5 and 13-5 major decisions — Reynolds was whitewashed in its trio of finals bouts. However as Taylor explained, "Last weekend (at Section 2-AA) we had an early spurt and we had the lead. It wasn't that we got comfortable, but Greenville got hot and they had kids comin' through — four or five kids with fourths.

"A lot of people forget the gains you grab from consy semis to finals — I think it's five points. So when we put four in, there's twenty points, just to gain that top place. So I think that's where we made the difference this week," Taylor continued. "It was a four-and-a-half point win, and if you sat back and looked at it, there were probably a thousand things that other teams — and us — could've had happen differently."

The strength of Mercer County's contingent has been illustrated during the last 3 weeks, with Hickory harvesting the D-10 Team Duals to earn a berth at Hershey; Greenville garnering the Section 2-AA title, and Reynolds recording the District 10 crown.

"Parity, right?" Taylor rhetorically asked. "I think dual meets were very close this year among Hickory, Greenville and us; the Section title was very close, the District (team) title belongs to Hickory, so I think it's about what kind've mind-set and momentum the kids are carrying," Taylor theorized. "At the District 10 Duals, Hickory looked unstoppable ... then at Sections Greenville got on a hot run ... and I think this weekend for our kids, it was a different mind-set for them, and I was proud of them."

In addition to the Gills — Louie improved to 36-1 and Carter 32-5 — Mercer County crowned champions in Grove City's Hunter Hohman (152) and Greenville's Cole Karpinski (189).

Karpinski copped a takedown with approximately 62 ticks remaining in his bout with Saegertown's Landon Caldwell. The senior standout remained undefeated at 35-0 with his 2-1 win. Hohman, a sophomore, improved to 19-0 with a dominant decision.

Other champions included Saegertown's Hunter Robison (113) Conneaut Area's Hunter Gould (120) and Collin Hearn (16), Fort LeBoeuf's Jojo Przybycien (126), Cochranton's Jack Martinec (132), Harbor Creek's Connor Pierce, Titusville's Brock Covell (172), and Corry's Hayden Linkerhof (215) and Xavier Reyda (285).

Hickory headmaster Nick Clepper — chosen the District 10 Coach of the Year — could not have been more gracious, pulling his I-phone out of his pocket to show a disbelieving onlooker the final team scores.

"We need to do a little bit more in some of those consy matches, but my kids wrestled great," Clepper began. "We've got a pile of kids movin' on to next week — we've got nine — and a few young guys that made it to next week. I'm super-proud of these guys. Both Gills wrestled well all week(end) ... Connor Saylor ... Dylan O'Brien avenged a loss from last week ... I couldn't be happier right now.

"But there were some matches we missed out on gettin' some bonus points. Winnin' matches by seven doesn't help; you get the extra (team) points when you win by eight. But Reynolds wrestled great," Clepper continued. "Through the consolations they ended up scorin' quite a bit of points, gettin' guys all the way back to third place, which is huge.

"But next week we've got a whole 'nother tournament, so we're gonna get ready for that now," Clepper concluded regarding Regions, which return to Sharon High.

Notes: Commodore Perry's Tom Tingley was voted the D-10 assistant coach of the year, while North East's Chris Galloway was named the district's Junior High coach of the year. ... Hickory, Greenville, Saegertown and Fort LeBoeuf were recognized for winning their respective regular-season regions, as were Section 1-AA and 2-AA titlists Saegertown and Greenville. ... For additional results, visit FloArena.

Top 10 Team Standings and Key: Reynolds (R) 146.5; Hickory (H) 142; Fort LeBoeuf (FL) 123.5; Corry (Cor) 120; Saegertown (Sae) 116; Cochranton (Coch) 101; Titusville (T) 95.5; Commodore Perry (CP) 91; Greenville (Gv) 82; Girard (Gir) 60.

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

106 — Louie Gill (H) major dec. Carter Beck (Sae), 16-5; 113 — Hunter Robison (Sae) pinned Dylan O'Brien (H), 3:29; 120 — Hunter Gould (CASH) dec. Chase Bell (R), 7-1; 126 — Jojo Przybycien (FL) dec. Gunnar Gage (Spa), 5-2; 132 — Jack Martinec (Coch) dec. Wyatt Lazzar (CP), 9-4; 138 — Connor Pierce (HC) major dec. Connor Saylor (H), 12-4; 145 — Carter Gill (Hickory) major dec. Story Buchanan (Gir), 13-5; 152 — Hunter Hohman (GC) dec. Kane Kettering (R), 7-1; 160 — Collin Hearn (CASH) dec. Ryan Welka (FL), 7-0; 172 — Brock Covell (T) dec. Jalen Wagner (R), 6-4; 189 — Cole Karpinski (Gv) dec. Landon Caldwell (Sae), 2-1; 215 — Hayden Linkerhof (Cor) pinned Abe Keep (Gir), 4:56; 285 — Xavier Reyda (Cor) pinned Josh Perrine (Sae), 1:55.

SEMIFINALS

106 — Beck (Sae) dec. Dailey (F), 9-2; Gill (H) tech. fall Chiesa (Nw), 21-3; 113 — O'Brien (H) dec. Geibel (CP), 9-7; Robison (Sae) pinned Wise (Mer), 3:55; 120 — Bell (R) major dec. Hershelman (Sae), 8-0; Gould (CASH) major dec. Blake (Mwood), 9-0; 126 — Gage (Spa) pinned Rueberger (Sv), 3:52; J.Przybycien (FL) major dec. Sutter (NW), 13-2; 132 — J.Martinec (Coch) pinned Miller (H), 3:05; Lazzar (CP) major dec. Platz (Sen), 9-0; 138 — Saylor (H) dec. Hamilton (GC), 11-6; Pierce (HC) tech. fall Kneeland (Gv), 24-8; 145 — Buchanan (Gir) dec. Klenke (R), 7-3; Gill (H) dec. Summers (Sv), 10-4; 152 — Hohman (GC) tech. fall Jaquay (E), 17-2; Kettering (R) dec. McChesney (FL), 3-1; 160 — Welka (FL) dec. V.Gentile (R), 5-3; Hearn (CASH) dec. Boozer (Coch), 5-4; 172 — B.Covell (T) dec. Holland (H), 3-0; Wagner (R) pinned Gledhill (Coch), 5:27; 189 — Caldwell (Sae) pinned Brunst (T), 5:56; Karpinski (Gv) dec. Church (FL), 8-2; 215 — Keep (Gir) major dec. Wilson (Gv), 15-4; Linkerhof (Cor) dec. Black (E), 3-2; 285 — Perrine (Sae) pinned Nosko (T), 3:10; Reyda (Cor) dec. Mazurek (Sh), 3-0.

3RD-PLACE CONSOLATIONS

106 — Dailey (F) dec. Chiesa (NW), 4-2; 113 — Wise (Mer) dec. Hammerschmidt (R), 6-4; 120 — Hershelman (Sae) dec. Bennett (FL), 2-1; 126 — Rueberger (Sv) dec. Sutter (NW), 1-0; 132 — Miller (H) major dec. Bissell (Sv), 10-0; 138 — Kneeland (Gv) dec. Hamilton (GC), 5-3; 145 — Klenke (R) dec. Summers (Sv), 3-1; 152 — McDhesney (FL) dec. Thomas (UC), 8-4; 160 — V.Gentile (R) pinned Hacker (Sh), 1:47; 172 — Gledhill (Coch) dec. Smith (CP), 2-0; 189 — Church (FL) major dec. Allen (Cor), 13-3; 215 — Black (E) dec. McCloskey (R), 5-2.

5TH-PLACE CONSOLATIONS

106 — Lantz (Coch) pinned Zacherl (CP), 1:35; 113 — Geibel (CP) dec. Kimmy (NE), 6-0; 120 — Blake (Mw) dec. Proper (Cor), 10-4; 126 — Rodgers (T) pinned Porter (Gv), 3:54; 132 — Bowers (FL) injury def. Platz (Sen); 138 — S.Martinec (Coch) pinned Donaldson (T), 0:27; 145 — Fountain (NW) dec. Proper (Cor), 1-0; 152 — Jaquay (E) major dec. L.Gentile (Gv), 8-0; 160 — Divens (Sv) injury def. S.Boozer (Coch); 172 — Holland (H) dec. Savitz (Corry), 4-0; 189 — Osborne (CP) forfeit; 215 — Wilson (Gv) dec. Brooks (Sae), 3-0; 285 — Baldwin (Gir) pinned Sample (Coch), 3:57.

7TH-PLACE CONSOLATIONS

106 — A.Przybycien (FL) dec. Shetler (Mw), 3-1; 113 — Bayle (Cor) injury def. Schlosser (Coch); 120 — Double (SR) dec. Mancuso (Y), 10-3; 126 — Krivosh (H) tech. fall Foulk (Coch), 16-0; 132 — Beck (Spa) injury def. Kinney (Corry); 138 — S.Gentile (R) F Hunter Savitz (Corry), 2:34; 145 — Wolfkiel (T) injury def. McDonald (Y); 152 — J.Covell (T) dec. Schaffer (CP), 11-5; 160 — Tingley (CP) dec. Heckathorne (F), 6-1; 172 — Miller (Sen) dec. Hayne (Gv), 4-1; 189 — Schmidt (R) dec. Figueroa (H), 2-1; 215 — Spires (Sen) dec. Yeager (CP), 5-3; 285 — Maule (H) dec. Guthrie (CP), 1-0.