In an important dual meet for both sides, Thomas Jefferson traveled to Belle Vernon and returned home with a 47-25 victory.
For the Jaguars, Zach Rehak won by fall in 5 minutes, 22 seconds at 106, Robert Cordova won by technical fall 15-0 at 113, Ethan Koett was victorious by fall in 1:40 at 120, Maddox Shaw pinned Connor Hoffman in 1:34 at 160, Zach LaBryer won by pin in 38 seconds at 189 and Shep Turk dominated at heavyweight, winning by fall in 20 seconds.
“This was a match that we were really paying attention to before we hit the Beast of the East (tournament in Delaware),” TJ coach Michael Ladick said. “It was real important for us to look good, and we still found some areas for improvement, but the good thing is that they’re listening and learning. Belle Vernon has a hell of a team. I respect what (Belle Vernon wrestling coach) Bob (Bove) does, and I know that they have some legitimate wrestlers on their team.
“That showed tonight, but we were able to find ways to earn points and win matches. This is a nice result for us before a tough tournament.”
For the Leopards, Leo Soto won the match of the night against Dom Costa in a 6-5 decision at 126, Deydon Soto won at 138 by a 12-1 major decision, Colby Hibner won by fall after 1:05 at 145, Kole Doppelheuer won by fall in 1:28 at 152 and Elijah Brown pinned Trent Miller in 54 seconds at 215.
“We have to battle more than we did tonight,” Bove said. “We have a lot of young kids that are in their first year of varsity wrestling and they’re talented kids, but there’s a transition from junior high to varsity and we’re not exactly where I thought we were in that transition. That was a good test because they’re a good team with some studs, but I thought we were closer to making that transition.
“A couple of our younger guys let matches they were in get away from them. It looks like they got their butts kicked, but they were in matches, so they just have to learn how to stay in those matches and hopefully battle longer next time and try and win some of those matches.”
The dual meet began at 145 pounds as Hibner’s quick pin of Liam Overdorff put the Leopards up 6-0 before Doppelheuer overpowered Shane Thurner to give Belle Vernon a 12-0 advantage.
Shaw earned the first points of the night for TJ with his pin before Bode Marlow’s forfeit win leveled the score at 12-12. Zach LaBryer’s victory gave Thomas Jefferson its first advantage, but it was short-lived as Brown stepped up and earned the Leopards six more points with his victory by fall.
Turk then started a run for TJ with his strong performance against Randall Munsky. Wins for Rehak, Cordova and Koett followed Turk’s win to suddenly give TJ a 41-18 lead.
Leo Soto and Costa went the distance at 127, with both wrestlers going back and forth until Soto earned the winning takedown with 30 seconds left in the final period.
“Leo and Deydon both have really good motors,” Bove said. “We bumped Leo up a weight, and he rose up to that challenge. He wears kids out well, and I think that’s what he did to win at the end.”
Said Ladick: “I think Costa is figuring it out coming from junior high. He certainly has garnered a lot of success in our room, and that was a great match for him. (Rehak, Cordova and Koett) are also young, and they’re figuring it out at the varsity level, so it was encouraging to see Costa battle as well.”
From there, Jacob LaBryer grabbed a forfeit win and Deydon Soto prevailed over Cam Timko to end the dual meet at 47-25.
The Jaguars will be back on the mat Saturday and Sunday in Delaware for the Beast of the East before returning to participate at Powerade at Canon-McMillan on Dec. 27 and 28.
The Leopards will be back in action Dec. 28-29 in the MyHouse Trojan Wars at Chambersburg High School.