Wrestling updates: Blair Academy maintains No. 1 rank with win over Wyoming Seminary
BLAIRSTOWN - It was only fitting that the nation's top two ranked wrestling teams went down to the wire.
Blair Academy, the No. 1 ranked program in the country, outlasted second-ranked Wyoming Seminary, 32-26 Friday night at Blair Academy.
The Buccaneers took the annual prep showdown when the Blue Knights forfeited the final match of the night at heavyweight, breaking a 26-26 tie.
Peter Snyder's sudden-victory takedown and 6-4 win over Dom Federici at 175 pounds secured the match for the home team.
Blair had the edge in matches, 8-7 and gained distance in the middle, winning four straight between 132-150 pounds for 15 points and a 20-9 lead through eight bouts. The highlight of the stretch was at 144 when Blair's Logan Rozynski pinned Smokey McClure in 3:18 for the Bucs second fall of the night.
The Blue Knights climbed out of a late 12-point hole through 11 bouts when Josh Cordio (190) and Jude Correa (215) pinned to tie the match, 26-26.
This was the third meeting between the schools in the last four years. Wyoming Seminary, the defending National Prep Champions, won last year's meeting, 31-26, in Kingston, Pa. in a match that also went down to the final bout.
In 2020, Blair Academy won four of the last five bouts to secure a 31-24 win. Wyoming Seminary, however, went on to win the National Prep Championship that year, unseating the Buccaneers, which won five straight titles between 2015 and 2019.
See below for the updates from Friday night's match:
Final
Blair 32, Wyoming Seminary 26
285 pounds
Carter Neves (Blair) vs. Edwin Lora (Wyoming Seminary)
The Blue Knights forfeit to Neves, the nation's top heavyweight.
Blair 32, Wyoming Seminary 26
215 pounds
Jude Correa (Wyoming Seminary) vs. Josh Anthony (Blair)
Correa wastes no time, decking Anthony in 40 seconds to tie the match, sending the Blue Knights' corner and crowd into a frenzy. For the second straight year, it comes down to the final bout of the night to decide it.
Blair 26, Wyoming Seminary 26
190 pounds
Josh Cordio (Wyoming Seminary) vs. Liam Kilrain (Blair)
Cordio pulls the Blue Knights within six when he decks Kilrain in 56 seconds. Cordio was aggressive from the start and raced out to a 2-0 lead on a takedown 35 seconds into the match.
Blair 26, Wyoming Seminary 20
175 pounds
Dom Federici (Wyoming Seminary) vs. Peter Snyder (Blair)
In the best match of the night so far, Snyder pulls out a 6-4 win in overtime with a takedown 30 seconds into the extra period.
Trailing by a point late in the third, the Blair freshman forces overtime off an escape with the match knotted at four apiece.
Federici took a 4-3 lead on a takedown with 1:17 left and pulled within one on an escape.
Blair 26, Wyoming Seminary 14
165 pounds
Carter Schubert (Wyoming Seminary) vs. Lorenzo Norman (Blair)
Norman gets an early takedown and an escape to hang on for a 3-0 win through 10 bouts.
Blair 23, Wyoming Seminary 14
157 pounds
Joe Sealey (Wyoming Seminary) vs. Barry Norman (Blair)
Sealey puts on a clinic with 13 takedowns for the technical fall, 26-11. The Bucs lead is cut to six points with five bouts to go.
Blair 20, Wyoming Seminary 14
150 pounds
Chris Crawford (Wyoming Seminary) vs. Will Henkel (Blair)
Leading 2-1 to start the third period, Henkel gets an escape and a late takedown in the last 1:20 for a 5-1 win.
Blair 20, Wyoming Seminary 9
144 pounds
Smokey McClure (Wyoming Seminary) vs. Logan Rozynski (Blair)
Rozynski with the fall in 3:18 to put the Bucs ahead by eight through seven bouts.
Blair 17, Wyoming Seminary 9
138 pounds
Matthew Dimen (Wyoming Seminary) vs. Billy Dekraker (Blair)
Dekraker with a takedown midway through the third period to hold on for a 5-3 win. The junior took a 3-2 lead on an escape to start the third before Dimen tied it 3-3 on an escape.
Blair 11, Wyoming Seminary 9
132 pounds
Matthew Bottello (Wyoming Seminary) vs. Matty Lopes (Blair)
Lopes hangs on for a 3-0 decision. The junior scores a takedown in the first and an escape in the second to pull the Bucs within one through five bouts.
Wyoming Seminary 9, Blair 8
126 pounds
Mark-Anthony McGowan (Blair) vs. Luke Lilledahl (Wyoming Seminary)
In another battle between the nation's top two at 126, No. 2 Lilledahl scores a takedown with :30 left to pull out a 4-3 decision against No. 1 McGowan.
McGowan took a 2-1 lead on a takedown with 1:20 left in the second before Lilledahl escaped to tie it at 2-2 with :50 left in the second period.
Wyoming Seminary 9, Blair 5
120 pounds
Wyatt Fry (Wyoming Seminary) vs. Ryan Meier (Blair)
Fry hangs on for a 4-1 decision. A takedown in the first period and a reversal in the second was the difference.
Wyoming Seminary 6, Blair 5
113 pounds
Nikos Filipos (Wyoming Seminary) vs. Leo DeLuca (Blair)
DeLuca, ranked second in the nation, scores a 19-3 technical fall over No. 6 Filipos. The sophomore raced out to a quick 7-0 lead in the first.
Blair 5, Wyoming Seminary 3
106 pounds
Tyler Dekraker (Blair) vs. Davis Motyka (Wyoming Seminary)
In a battle between the nation's top 106 pounders, second-ranked Montyka hangs on for a 2-0 win. Following a scoreless first period, the junior gets the reversal with a minute left in the second.
Wyoming Seminary 3, Blair 0
This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Wrestling: Blair Academy maintains No. 1 rank with win over Wyoming Seminary
