Raiders open PIAA Duals with 72-0 rout

Friday, February 10, 2012

HERSHEY - The Brookville wrestling team opened the PIAA Class AA Team Wrestling Championships in impressive fashion Thursday with a 72-0 rout over District 1 champ Lower Moreland.
Brookville (18-4) came to Hershey without a single wrestler having ever competed in the Giant Center at the varsity level (team or individual states), but that didn't seem to matter as an aggressive Raiders squad took it to the Lions (22-5) early and often.
Raiders senior Logan Stout got things rolling with a second-period pin at 195, which was a sign of things to come. Brookville racked up eight falls in the match and scored bonus points in 11 of the 14 wins.
Jake Cieleski, Nate Nosker, Dalton Zimmerman, Cole Clever, Brock Zacherl, Brodie Zacherl and Zach Vroman all recorded pins in the match, while Tyler Dombroski and Trey Constable won by forfeit and technical respectively.
The win moved Brookville into this afternoon's quarterfinals against District 4 champ Wyalusing Valley, which topped West Branch (D-6 runner-up) 36-15 Thursday.
"We didn't expect that (72-0), I can tell you that," said Brookville head coach Dave Klepfer. "The guys showed up and wrestled hard, and for their first time on this floor to get that type of performance is nice to see. We didn't wrestle bad in any position. We were aggressive on our feet and wrestled hard on the mat while on top.
"It was nice to get that first win out of the way. That's one down and three to go. It looks as if we're going to get Wyalusing (Valley) and we're going to have our hands full, but if we get that typed of performance again, I believe they are a team we can beat. It's taken us the whole year, but we finally have everyone in the right situation, at the rights weight and healthy, and that's key down here. Winning all the other tournaments we went to and the other duals was just practice. Our main goal was to get down here and we're going to try to make the most of it."
Brookville's win also tied a season-high for wins. The Raiders won 18 twice, the first coming in the 1998-99 season when they won the state team title. They also won 18 in 2002-03.
Stout wasted little time getting the Raiders off and running. He scored two takedowns in the first period to grab a 4-1 lead, then reversed Lion Nick Brunswick quickly in the second, getting the fall just 18 seconds into the period.
Cieleski and Nosker followed with pins of their own - both in the first period. Cieleski decked Mamuka Okropilashvili in 1:20 at 220 pounds, while Nosker needed just 1:07 to flatten Andrew DeRocini at heavyweight.
The match then turned over to the lightweights, where Devin Joiner kept things rolling for the Raiders. Joiner grabbed a 2-0 lead after one period on a takedown, but Jimmy McGuigan escaped midway through the second to cut the lead to one at 2-1.
It was all Joiner from there as the Raider took down McGuigan, then used a cradle to score three backpoints.
Leading 7-1 entering the third period, Joiner closed out the scoring with a third-period reversal and rode out the Lion the remainder of the match.
Constable followed with his tech fall of Seung-Gyu Rim. The Raider led 4-0 after one period before turning it on in the second, scoring an escape, two takedowns and a set of backpoints to lead 12-1. Constable let Rim up to start the third, then hit a five-point move to end the match 17-2 in 4:44.
Brookville then got back-to-back pins from Zimmerman and Clever at 120 and 126 respectively.
Zimmerman was leading Kyle Baker 5-0 when he pinned the Lion with seven seconds left in the first period. Clever had a much closer bout with Jon Aurit.
Clever scored two backpoints from the top position in the second to grab a 2-0 lead, then hit a Peterson Roll in the third to reverse Baker to his back for a four-point move. Clever then finished off the pin in 4:49 to make it 39-0.
Raider freshman Jimmy Miller made it eight wins in a row at 132, pulling out a tight 4-2 win over Timmy Yu. Miller scored a takedown in the first to lead 2-0, then escaped in the second to go up 3-0. However, Yu reversed the Raider with 36 seconds left in the period to get within a point, but Miller escaped in the final seconds go ahead 4-2. The Raider then rode Yu the entire third period to seal the victory.
Miller's win was followed by three straight falls for the Raiders. Brock Zacherl started the mini-run of pins at 138 when he decked Mike McKenna in 2:29.
Zacherl was leading 12-1 at the time of the fall. Twin brother Brodie then used an inside cradle to pin Mike Kuritz in 1:07, while Vroman made it three pins in a row when he showed Max Pylayev the lights in 31 seconds.
Raider senior Brett Smith followed with a 6-0 win over Hank Campbell at 160, scoring four points in the first period, then a reversal in the third to set the final.
Teammate Taylor Cudworth also scored a regular decision at 170, topping Rashan Chanyothi, 7-2. Cudworth led 2-0 after one period, and added to that lead with a reversal and two backpoints in the second.
Chanyothi reversed Cudworth early in the third, but the Raider worked for an escape to finish the match on his feet.
Dombrowski closed out the match with a forfeit win at 182.

Reported by Chris Wechtenhiser, C-E Assistant Sports Editor