CHAMBERSBURG — With a trio of starters missing from the lineup, the margin of error for Chambersburg's wrestling team was very slim.
The Trojans led pretty much the whole way in a non-league tussle with West Perry on Saturday night at CASHS Field House, but the Mustangs won four straight bouts from 152 to 189 — three by pin — to turn a 20-10 deficit into a 31-23 victory.
Zach Sherman
"Our message tonight was to compete and don't stop wrestling," Chambersburg coach Matt Mentzer said. "I thought the effort was better tonight (than Thursday in a loss to Gettysburg). We had some great efforts, even from a couple of the backups."
The highlight of the match for the Trojans came at 121, when Zach Sherman took on West Perry's Jackson Rush, with both wrestlers ranked in the state. Rush was a Trojan Wars champion and came in with a 27-1 record; Sherman was 23-8.
Sherman opened the bout with a quick takedown, Rush escaped and scored a takedown and Sherman got out for a 3-3 tie after one period. Rush escaped early in the second, but Sherman secured a go-ahead takedown, sweeping in to grab an ankle and completing the move for a 5-4 lead.
"I started off strong, and I pushed the tempo," Sherman said. "I was able to get to my stuff and into my tie-ups."
In the third period, Sherman chose neutral and made it work, tying up Rush so he got no clean shots and was active enough to get no stall warnings.
"I controlled his wrist and his head and stayed out of dangerous positions," Sherman said. "I wasn't expecting to go neutral, but Rush is pretty good on top and coach made the right decision to go on our feet."
Mentzer said, "That was a match between two kids who could be state medalists. It looked like a match that takes place at Giant Center. It turned out to be a best-of-three takedowns and our guy got two of them."
Chambersburg (5-8) also received major decisions by Ben Hoover at 107 and Caleb Swartz at 127, a 5-1 decision by Ashton Romberger at 133 and a pin in 3:01 by Tyler Frye at 145 to take the 20-10 lead.
But the Trojans had to use two backups in the next four weights and the Mustangs (12-3) took full advantage, with Cooper Nace, Tyler Morrison and Tucker Seidel scoring pins and Jensen Hockenberry-Folk winning by decision.
Aiden Hight earned a decision for Chambersburg at 215 over Quade Boden to finish the match, because neither team weighed in anybody at 285.
NOTES: Both teams won 6 bouts, but the Mustangs scored bonus points in 5 of their wins, including 4 pins (Brian Puchalsky, West Perry's lone senior, had a fall at 139) … The Trojans finish up their dual-meet season next week, with home meets vs. Shippensburg on Wednesday and vs. Cedar Cliff on Thursday, both at 7.
West Perry 31, Chambersburg 23
107 — Ben Hoover (C) md Hayden Quaker, 9-1
114 — Evan Shepard (WP) md Cody Seabolt, 13-2
121 — Zach Sherman (C) d Jackson Rush, 5-4
127 — Caleb Swartz (C) md Christian Laughman, 12-2
133 — Ashton Romberger (C) d Aden Shepard, 5-1
139 — Brian Puchalsky (WP) p Logan Mickey, 1:42
145 — Tyler Frye (C) p Adam Yoder, 3:01
152 — Cooper Nace (WP) p Ashton Allen, 0:24
160 — Jensen Hockenberry-Folk (WP) d Noah Valentine, 9-2
172 — Tyler Morrison (WP) p Isaiah Tasker, 4:20
189 — Tucker Seidel (WP) p Judge Rieck, 1:12
215 — Aiden Hight (C) d Quade Boden, 10-3
285 — No contest
