After claiming the Hickory Tournament team title over the
weekend, Bradford’s hope for a repeat performance fell short
Tuesday night as Port Allegany came into the Owls Nest and posted a
43-21 Allegheny Mountain League win.
“I guess you could call it the Hickory hangover,” explained Owls
coach Rob Cosper. “It seemed like we had such an outstanding
performance over the weekend, it was tough to get back up when it
finally came down to crunch time.
“Our mental toughness was off a little bit. We struggled with
the little things and it cost us some close matches,” said
Cosper.
Bradford (0-1) earned victories in just five of 14 weight
classes, suffering several close defeats at the middleweights.
“Our lineup strength is 130-171 (pounds). When we have tough
individual matches there and come out on the losing end, it is
tough to pick up the match,” noted Cosper. “We just couldn’t cover
all our holes and Port Allegany came out on top.
“Give credit to Port Allegany. For their first competiton of the
year, they stepped up on the mat.
“I thought we would have the upper hand since we saw some
competition over the weekend, but they were ready to go and took it
to us,” added Cosper.
Getting wins for the Owls were Evan Smith (103, 7-2), Luke
McMurtrie (112, 7-2), Ryan VanGuilder (119, 6-3), Mark Havers (160,
9-0) and Zach Smith (171, 8-1).
Despite the loss and a few injuries, Cosper feels the Owls will
bounce back and be ready for another pivotal AML matchup Thursday,
this time on the road against Cameron County.
“We can patch some people together and get ready for Thursday,”
Cosper said. “We will have a nice Christmas break to get set up for
the Warren Tournament Dec. 30.
“I feel we are still going to be very competitve in the AML and
I like our matchups the rest of the year.
“Our schedule was intentionally increased with competitons this
year,” said Cosper. “In order to grow into a strong program, year
in and year out, we’re going to go through some growing pains.
Tonight was one of them.
“It was a good team effort. We win and lose as a team. No one
person is to be blamed for a loss,” added the coach.
Port Allegany (1-0) benefited from three Bradford forfeits at
the 125, 189 and heavyweight divisions. Earning pins for the Gators
were Bradley Goodreau (140) and Zach Manning (215).
“Bradford is a much improved team,” Port second-year coach Sean
Lathrop said. “They are doing a real nice job with the program.
“We wrestled tough for our first match. I am proud of our kids
and the way they wrestled. They are all unselfish and always
thinking of each other. The coaching staff has done a great job as
well.
“We take one match at a time. We are like a blue-collar team. We
come to work hard everyday,” added Lathrop.
PORT ALLEGANY 43, BRADFORD 21
103 —Evan Smith (B) technical fall Bryan Lacher, 17-0
112 —Luke McMurtrie (B) decisioned Tom Caden, 4-2
119 —Ryan VanGuilder (B) major decisioned Mark Borowsky,
11-0
125 —Brandon Goodreau (PA) won by forfeit
130 —Chester Tanner (PA) decisioned Gage Bunker, 11-6
135 —Ryan Kio (PA) decisioned Zach Britton, 9-3
140 —Bradley Goodreau (PA) pinned Matt Ostrander, 3:53
145 —Benn Baxter (PA) major decisioned Dylan Lamberson, 11-2
152 —Adam Greenman (PA) decisioned Jake McMurtrie, 5-1
160 —Mark Havers (B) pinned Josh Fox, 3:13
171 —Zach Smith (B) decisioned Dakota Millford, 6-2
189 —Trent Neal (PA) won by forfeit
215 —Zach Manning (PA) pinned Dan Kline, 3:07
HWT —Todd Bigler (PA) won by forfeit
