State College wrestling rallies for close win over Cedar Cliff before holiday break
On a night where senior wrestlers were honored and fans in the stands consisted of Penn State coaches Cael and Cody Sanderson, former Nittany Lion Bo Nickal and current Nittany Lion Levi Haines, State College was the cardiac cats.
However, with the dual beginning at 172 pounds on Thursday night, Little Lions coach Ryan Cummins and Cedar Cliff coach Rick Tamanosky knew what was about to develop in State College’s 34-32 come-from-behind win.
“We knew what we were in for. I wanted to be a little further ahead at the break,” Tamanosky said. “We knew coming into the second half, and where they were finishing up, where we had to be.”
As Tamanosky said, he would’ve liked his team to be a little further ahead at the break than the seven points they were up. They managed to win the match out of the break, which was Stellan Bachman picking up a 6-3 win over the Little Lions’ Nick Berrena at 133 pounds.
The Colts led 28-18 with four bouts left.
At 139 pounds, State College had freshman James Whitbred step on the mat against Zach Cutshall. It was a match that Tamanosky knew his wrestler had a “tough matchup,” but he was hoping for a close result.
Whitbred looked like a seasoned veteran from the opening whistle.
“He’s a pretty mature freshman. Most freshmen don’t just come up ready to go,” Cummins said. “He’s been wrestling a long time and it shows. I think he’s gaining more confidence with every match. I think he’s going to have a fun season.”
He tallied a takedown and nearfall points, while giving up an escape for a 4-1 first-period lead. In the second period, Whitbred recorded a reversal, let Cutshall out and got another takedown before the period ended.
The third period saw Whitbred earn two more takedowns in a 12-4 major decision. It got the Little Lions to within 28-22.
“It feels great. I’m excited to have this opportunity to come out here wrestle and get things done,” the freshman said. “I’ve got to say it’s all about working hard, really focusing on goals that you have and just keeping your head straight. I have really good practice partners in the room. The coaching is really good too. They helped me get to the level that I need to be at to wrestle these kids.”
At 145 pounds, Tamanosky was hoping Joshua Weaver would pin State College’s Jacob Campbell to put his squad up by 12 with Pierson Manville and Asher Cunningham lurking.
Weaver came out and nearly brought his coach’s dream to reality by putting Campbell on his back in the first period. However, Campbell fought of his back and stayed poised.
In the second period, Weaver again imposed his will on Campbell, but the Little Lions wrestler stayed focused. Campbell fought his way out of a bonus-point loss, but gave up a late penalty point to fall 16-8.
“Campbell is a tough kid, you clearly aren’t sticking him, so it was a tall task. You come here to win, but overall I can’t complain,” Tomanosky said. “They’re a solid team with, yeah, they got Manville, (Nick) Pavlechko and Cunningham, but their other kids battle. They don’t send any kid out there that doesn’t come out to compete, which is what I like about these guys.”
Manville and Cunningham tallied back-to-back falls to complete the rally for State College.
Manville needed just 51 seconds to dispatch Evan Zeigler at 152 pounds. Cunningham put Erik Schiver on his back in 1:02.
“With Pierson (Manville) and Asher (Cunningham) finishing out, that’s always a good feeling,” Cummins said.
The dual began in the Little Lions’ favor as well with Xavier Zeruth hitting a nice lateral drop of William White for a fall in 1:59. Cedar Cliff got on the board with a 3-2 win from Cayden Mabius at 189 pounds.
At that point, the teams traded pins over the next four bouts. Nick Pavlechko and Noah Young were those winners for State College.
Pavlechko snapped off four takedowns on Guner Hiller at 285 before pinning Hiller in 1:37. Young needed just 50 seconds to take care of Cael Skorka at 114 pounds.
The Little Lions led 18-15 after Young’s victory, but saw that lead go away as the Colts’ Keegan and Kyle Zeigler had back-to-back bonus point victories before the break.
“I thought we wrestled tougher than we have, leading up (to this point),“ Cummins said. “I don’t know whether it’s the strength of schedule that’s helping toughen the guys up or what, but they definitely responded well. Even the guys that didn’t win, showed a lot of fight. I’m happy about that.”
State College 34, Cedar Cliff 32
Thursday at State College
172: Xavier Zeruth, SC, pinned William White, 1:59
189: Cayden Mabius, CC, dec. Reagan Dillon, 3-2
215: Mike Jones, CC, pinned Taylor Sunday, 1:10
285: Nick Pavlechko, SC, pinned Guner Hiller, 1:37
107: Aiden Herndon, CC, pinned Izaiah Vasquez, 1:46
114: Noah Young, SC, pinned Cael Skorka, :50
121: Keegan Zeigler, CC, major dec. Johnny Coates, 11-1
127: Kyle Zeigler, CC, pinned Jon Whitbred, 1:36
133: Stellan Bachman, CC, dec. Nick Berrena, 6-3
139: James Whitbread, SC, major dec. Zach Cutshall, 12-4
145: Joshua Weaver, CC, major dec. Jacob Campbell, 16-8
152: Pierson Manville, SC, pinned Evan Zeigler, :51
160: Asher Cunningham, SC, pinned Erik Schriver, 1:02
Takedowns: CC 13, SC 17
Records: Cedar Cliff (3-2), State College (2-3)
JH: State College, 72-12
Next match: State College at Powerade Tournament, Canon-McMillan HS, Dec. 29, 8 a.m.
