Wrestling: Roaders' rally brings realization
Jan. 25—BRUNSWICK — With how tight Brunswick and Tuscarora wrestled each other Wednesday night, Railroaders coach Scott Tilles didn't realize that freshman Lane Riggleman's 7-0 decision in the penultimate 285-pound bout put them over the top for good.
That realization came from assistant coach Avery Corwine, who told Tilles the result as sophomore Evan Mullen was hoisted on his teammates' shoulders and carried around the gym postgame celebrating the victory following his pin to cap the evening.
"I never felt confident," Tilles said. "[Titans coach Trey Coates] is one of the best coaches at bumping people. So, I knew I would have to be on my toes against him because he knows the good matchups. What happened was, the matchups went better than I thought."
That was particularly the case in the middleweights and heavyweights, as Brunswick took eight of the final nine bouts to pull out a 49-30 victory in its first of only two home matches this season.
Mullen's pin 57 seconds in at 106 closed the contest and was one of the evening's quickest bouts, as only four matches ended in first-period falls.
"I like to always promise my coach that I'm out there to get six points, and that's exactly what I tried to do," Mullen said. "Even with the victory sealed, I'm still out there scoring the most points for my team, and that's what I did."
But victory wasn't a given, particularly as Tuscarora (6-5) hung tough in each match and won four straight at one point. That run started in the evening's second bout, as the Titans' Cooper Cammarata pinned the Roaders' Seth Crawford — wrestling up two weight classes — in the third period.
Xavier Ford, Chase Wheeler and Brodie Burdette soon followed with pins of their own, the latter finishing his opponent in 34 seconds.
"Our bumps at the bottom worked, and we could've stayed off our back a little in the upper weights," Coates said. "But I knew they were going to be tough in the upper weights coming in, and I knew we had to make our points off [the lower weights]."
That gamesmanship from both sides eventually turned around to favor Brunswick (8-4), and it got a shot of energy from Morgon Corwine.
He entered the circle for the 152 bout by firing up the home crowd and his teammates before aggressively going after Tuscarora's Syncere Boynton, taking him down three times in the first period. Corwine racked up points and neared a technical fall early in the second thanks to an early reversal.
Corwine eventually pinned Boynton at 2:47, bringing the match score to 24-18 and eliciting another roar.
"I like to get my team rolling. So I just tried to put on a show for my team and the fans," Corwine said. "I was trying to lock up the cradle. That was my last turn I had before the tech fall, so I really needed to get it tight and make sure I could really pin him on that turn."
And the Roaders continued from there. Mark Cooke's pin in the 170 bout as the final buzzer sounded put them ahead and elicited the loudest cheers of the night.
After Koen Burdette brought Tuscarora back even with a pin in the 182, Brunswick rattled off four straight victories to seal the victory.
"I was very surprised how the match went, but my other coaches were not," Tilles said. "We're making strides and strides every week. That was a good team we beat, and I'm very proud of the way we wrestled."
Results: 113 — Jake O'Connor (B) pinned Austin Flook, 5:43; 120 — Cooper Cammarata (T) pinned Seth Crawford, 4:35; 126 — Xavier Ford (T) pinned Alex Frye, 5:35; 132 — Chase Wheeler (T) pinned Nate Markham, 3:29; 138 — Brodie Burdette (T) pinned Ayax Martinez, :34; 145 — Alex Haste (B) pinned Chris Ayala, 1:45; 152 — Morgon Corwine (B) pinned Syncere Boynton, 2:47; 160 — Jesse Runkles (B) pinned Colin Feeney, 3:14; 170 — Mark Cooke (B) maj. dec. TyVaughn Fitzgerald, 5:59; 182 — Koen Burdette (T) pinned Noah Utterback, :35; 195 — Dorran Charles (B) maj. dec. Matt Przybocki, 10-2; 220 — Austin Curry (B) pinned Oscar Murcia, 1:46; 285 — Lane Riggleman (B) dec. Dominic Vargas, 7-0; 106 — Evan Mullen (B) pinned Wyatt Flook, :57.
