WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Jan. 21) – Most people see wrestling as a purely individual sport. However, during Wednesday night's Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) match against perennial powerhouse Thiel, Waynesburg needed a total team effort to pull out a 22-15 win over the Tomcats.
The victory improved the Yellow Jackets to 8-2 overall in dual matches and completed the team's first 2-0 conference campaign since at least 2001.
Things started out very poorly for the Jackets as they dropped bouts at 125, 133, 141 and 157 pounds, putting them behind 15-3. Their only win during that stretch was a 3-2 decision triumph for freshman Jesse Byerly over Thiel's Alec Miller.
However, starting at 165 pounds, several young Jacket mat men stepped up in a big way for the team when they needed it the most, beginning with freshman Alex Evanoff.
Locked in a tight bout with the Tomcats' Shaun Ferguson, Evanoff took the top position to start the third period. From there, the Butler graduate showed off an impressive display of strength and skill as he tilted Ferguson three times to take the bout by 13-3 major decision.
Senior Jake Benczo followed with a 4-2 win over Pat Morris, and freshman Charles Thomas added a 7-2 decision victory at 184 pounds to trim Thiels' advantage to 15-13. Jacket freshman Corbin Semple gave his team their first lead on the night by pinning the Tomcats' Jeff Rockenstein in 1:11. It was Semple's eighth win in a row and 20th on the season at 197.
Heading into the heavyweight match, the Jackets held a 19-15 advantage, and all Waynesburg's Rich Janicki needed to do was not give up a bonus-point victory. However, after giving up a five-point move early in the first period, Janicki (pictured above during a previous match) rebounded to tie the score up on the scoreboard at 5-5 when the bout came to a close.
The junior picked up the victory by earning more than three minutes of riding time to get the bonus point and take a 6-5 decision.
Along with winning their second-straight PAC match, Waynesburg also ended the Tomcats' ten-match conference winning streak that stretched back to 2003-2004.
The Jackets return to the mats on Saturday, when they host a very strong Division II team in Gannon. The first bout is scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m.
Waynesburg 22, Thiel 15
125 Rob Miller (TC) fall 2:36 Rico Borz (WU) 0-6
133 Corey Brown (TC) dec. 7-6 (RT) Nick Garber (WU) 0-9
141 Mason Stewart (TC dec. 9-8 Pat McCabe (WU) 0-12
149 Jesse Byerly (WU) dec. 3-2 Alec Miller (TC) 3-12
157 Greg Hogan (TC) dec. 8-4 (RT) Jared Roberts (WU) 3-15
165 Alex Evanoff (WU) maj. dec. 13-3 Shaun Ferguson (TC) 7-15
174 Jake Benczo (WU) dec. 4-2 Pat Morris (TC) 10-15
184 Charles Thomas (WU) dec. 7-2 (RT) Garrison Taylor (TC) 13-15
197 Corbin Semple (WU) fall 1:11 Jeff Rockenstein (TC) 19-15
285 Rich Janicki (WU) dec. 6-5 (RT) Nathan Meyer (TC) 22-15
Pre-match Exhibition Bouts:
133 Jeff Marianetti (TC) dec. 5-3 (RT) Josh Mollica (WU)
141 Dan Duffy (TC) dec. 9-6 Dean Baker (WU)
157 Matt Lowry (TC) dec. 3-2 Garrett Johnston (WU)
165 Jon Sanko (WU) dec. 2-0 Devin Todd (TC)
174 Matt Zimmerman (WU) maj. dec. 11-2 Nick Scarillo (TC)
