The Bellwood-Antis wrestlers hosted Everett on Wednesday night at the B-A Middle School gym. The Warriors won the final three weight classes wrestled, two by pin and the third by tech fall to foil the Blue Devils bid for an upset with a 41-32 triumph.
The match began and ended with Everett showcasing their firepower, while the Blue devils came on in between to make it exciting.
The Tri-County League dual began at the 171-pound weight class with Andrew Nave pinning sophomore Jonathan Davila (0-5) in 1:25. At 189, Bellwood-Antis senior Dwayne Cherry ran into Adrien Ritchey, the top ranked 189-pound wrestler in the area, who pinned Cherry (10-4) at the 2:55 mark to improve his record to 14-1.
Emmanuel Wright (215) and Albert Calhoun (275) picked up forfeits with the Blue Devils minus any big men on their roster, to give Everett a quick 24-0 advantage.
At 103, Donnie Partner (2-14) started Bellwood-Antis on the way back with a win by forfeit.
After a no-match at 112, Eli Colyer (13-4) picked up another forfeit to cut the Everett lead in half 24-12.
Ricky Shawley (9-8) moved over the .500 mark for the season, using three takedowns and four sets of back points to major Garrett O’Rourke 14-2 at 125, and Brandon beech (13-8) added six more points to the Blue Devils total with another Everett forfeit.
Ronnie Wilson (5-13) kept the points rising on the B-A side of the scoreboard with a fall over Jason Snyder at the 2:20 mark in the match at 135.
Josh Ervine scored the Blue Devils’ final win at 140. Ervine (12-7) used a takedown, a reversal and four sets of nearfalls to win a 16-4 major decision over David Felton.
With Bellwood-Antis holding onto a 32-24 lead, Everett went bonus-points crazy after the 140-pound match however to make the B-A lead vanish like so much water down the drain. Asheton Grube gained revenge for a Tri-County loss to Dustin Harris (6-14), by pinning the Blue Devil junior, with one second left in the match at 145. Peter Westwood won a 16-1 technical fall over Ronnie Colyer (3-10) in 4:15 at 152 and Jacob Brambley decked Garett Wyland (0-3) halfway through the match in 3:00.
“We keep finding ways to lose the close matches,” explained Bellwood-Antis coach Ron Wilson. “We keep letting them get away, we need to find a way to pull those close ones out. We lost to Glendale by six points, to Tussey Mountain when all we needed was a match or two going our way and now this one tonight, where we had the lead late in the match. Reverse a couple of decisions and we win all three. We are young and inexperienced, but we need to win the matches we are capable of winning. It’s not for lack of effort. Successful teams find a way to win the close ones. Our kids have to find a way.”
The Blue Devils travel, weather permitting to Penns Valley on Saturday morning for a double dual against Penns Valley and West Branch. The matches will be wrestled on two mats with varsity and junior high going on at the same time, beginning at 11 a.m.
Everett 41 Bellwood-Antis 32
171 – Andrew Nave (E) pinned Jonathan Davila 1:25
189 – Adrien Ritchey (E) pinned Dwayne Cherry 2:55
215 – Emmanuel Wright (E) won by forfeit
275 – Albert Calhoun (E) won by forfeit
103 – Don Partner (BA) won by forfeit
112 – No match
119 – Eli Colyer (BA) won by forfeit
125 – Ricky Shawley (BA) maj. dec. Garrett O’Rourke 14=2
130 – Brandon Beech (BA) won by forfeit
135 – Ronnie Wilson (BA) pinned Jason Snyder 2:20
140 – Josh Ervine (BA) maj. dec. David Felton 16-4
145 – Asheton Grube (E) pinned Dustin Harris 5:59
152 – Peter Westwood (E) tech fall Ronnie Colyer 16-1, 4:15
160 – Jacob Brambley (E) pinned Garett Wyland 3:00.
