Cooper Roscosky doesn’t believe the upper weight classes will necessarily need to carry the Kiski Area wrestling team in dual matches.
But the 215-pound Kiski senior takes great pride in knowing he and Mario Hutcherson can provide the points to help alleviate the pressure on the rest of the lineup.
Roscosky, a Buffalo commit, pinned Indiana’s Jackson Higgins to collect his 119th career win on senior night to help the Cavaliers open up the section schedule with a 43-25 win Wednesday night at home.
“I believe in our lower weights,” Roscosky said. “They are the best they’ve been in years. Mario and I are the cherry on top, knowing we are going to go out and get six almost every time. It takes a little bit of the pressure off of them.”
Roscosky didn’t feel like Kiski (6-0) had its best night. Late in the first round, Higgins rolled through on Roscosky and ended up on top. Roscosky had control of Higgins’ ankle and knew he only had to hang around for 20 seconds.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting it,” Roscosky said. “I saw there was a short time left and nothing was going to happen. Worse comes to worse, I give up two. I knew I was going to get a stick in the second.”
Indiana had a 25-17 lead after Rowan Grantz pinned Bear Joseph at 152 pounds. The Indians built their lead behind wins from Lewis Sears (114 pounds), Charles Spells (121) and Bowen Blystone (127).
Indiana coach Tony Donatelli knew the Indians didn’t have quite enough separation to spring an upset.
“We have a lot of young talent down low, and they did an outstanding job,” Donatelli said. “We thought if we could get a lead and get pins down low. We expected Kiski to be tough up top. They are a class-act team.”
The Cavaliers closed the match with five consecutive wins, including tech falls from Hutcherson and Tyler Bollinger (160), a major decision from Abrahm Taylor (170) and pins from Roscosky and Alex Akerley (285).
Kiski coach Chris Heater said he was happy with his team’s fitness. The Cavaliers opened the season by winning five matches at the Greenville Duals last season. Heater said he felt like their routine was off because of senior night.
“I thought our conditioning was good,” Heater said. “I like honoring the kids who come all the way through our program. It’s hard when you can’t keep your normal routine. I think our guys were distracted and not as focused as we usually are. Their kids were super scrappy and rolled through a lot of us stuff.”
Gavin Lutz (107), Gavin Murphy (133) and Jackson Pollick (139) also won matches for Kiski. Roscosky said victory No. 119 was a special one.
“I have watched Kiski high school wrestling since I was a kid,” Roscosky said. “I watched all the seniors and looked up to them. To think there is a little kid looking up to me is awesome.”