NEW PARIS — Brian Creps wasn’t talking about the snowfall at Chestnut Ridge High School on Tuesday when he spoke of “weathering the storm.”
The Bedford wrestling coach was more concerned about the flurry of points that District 6 runner-up Huntingdon could potentially score.
Early on, it looked like the Bearcats might bury the Bisons, but Bedford won the final four matches for a 34-28 victory in the first round of the PIAA Class AA Dual-Meet Championships and earned a trip to Hershey.
“We knew we had the advantage in the lower weights, and we just had to weather the storm up above,” Creps said. “And, whenever it came back down below, we had to unleash the storm on them, and that’s what we did.”
Nate Roadman started the comeback for Bedford (15-0) at 103 pounds. The Bisons trailed 24-12 and Huntingdon
(17-3) had its best wrestler – Kie Brown
– coming up at 112 pounds, so getting points at 103 was crucial. Getting a pin
– which Roadman did after scoring a reversal to break a second-period tie – was a bonus.
“That started to turn the momentum back to us,” Creps said.
After Brown made it 28-18 with a 12-2 major decision over Caleb Grimes, the Bisons got rolling.
Stephen Geisler scored five third-period points for a 5-1 victory over Jacob Branish at 119. That pulled the Bisons within seven points, and Creps had seniors Cory Thomas, Zach Maust and Trey Easter for the final three matches.
“When you line those three guys up in a row, you’re feeling pretty good at the end,” Creps said.
No wonder. Thomas pinned Vova Boyd with a first-period cradle and Maust scored a takedown with 25 seconds left in the third to beat Dylan Gutshaw 3-1. That gave the Bisons a 30-28 edge – their first lead since the opening match.
Easter’s 18-5 major decision of Nathan Mykut clinched the victory.
“That’s what we wrestle for,” Easter said of the pressure-packed situation. “That’s what we train hard for. That’s why you wake up at 6 in the morning and do those runs. That was fun.”
Easter also is looking forward to getting back Hershey, where the Bisons placed fourth last year. They will face District 11 champ Pen Argyl – a team they beat
39-28 at Hershey last year – at 9 a.m. Friday in the second round.
“We have a few freshmen and sophomores on the team that haven’t gotten to experience that yet,” Easter said. “Just being down there, it’s awesome. I’m glad they’ll get to experience that.”
It will be the third straight season that Bedford has advanced to Hershey.
“You’re going back to the big time, and that’s what they dream of,” Creps said.
“When you come through Bedford, this is what they talk about. They talk about going to the state duals and the individual tournament down in Hershey. That’s the goal, and that’s the only goal.”
It looked like the Bisons might fall short of that goal after the first few matches on Tuesday.
Bedford 140-pounder Tanner Ripple needed a third-period reversal for a 4-2 win over Addison Yingling in the first match of the day.
Huntingdon won the next two, as Josh Bafia erased a four-point, first-period deficit to beat Doug Weyandt at 145. After giving up a stalling point with four seconds left that tied the match at 7, Bafia scored a takedown at the buzzer for a 9-7 victory.
Nick Marter’s pin of Dylan Evans at 152 gave Huntingdon the lead, although Bedford tied it in the next bout as Brian Gibbons used a cradle to pin Nathan Shope.
Huntingdon’s Alex Miller pinned Cody Yingling at 171, and teammate Jake Reid made a third-period escape stand up for a 1-0 win over Mat Browell at 189.
Bedford got a big win at 215, as Josh Krupa beat Cody Stuller 4-1 to make it
18-12.
Huntingdon responded with a fall at 285 pounds. Nick Shope was trailing Kaleb Crawley 1-0 in the third period, but the Huntingdon heavyweight scored a quick reversal and pin for a 12-point lead.
“We knew they had some guys coming there at the end that would be tough to handle, so we knew we had to build a decent-sized lead to be able to withstand that,” Huntingdon coach Jon Mykut said.
“Our guys battled the whole time. They have nothing to be ashamed of.”
The match, which was originally scheduled for 7 p.m., was moved up four hours because of the snowstorm expected to hit the area. That meant a quick turnaround for the teams, both of which wrestled twice on Monday.
“I think it affected both teams,” Creps said. “There were some matches where you saw a lot of sluggish boys.”
High School Sports
Related Photos
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Bedford’s Brian Gibbons (top) tries to pin Huntingdon’s Nathan Shope during their 160-pound bout Tuesday at Chestnut Ridge High School. Dave Lloyd
Discussion
Bisons win final four bouts to earn trip to Hershey
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