Jay hands Falcons 2nd loss (12/08/06)

James Myers wanted his Patriots to work on converting pins when they had the opportunity. They responded Thursday night.

Six of the Jay County wrestling team's seven victories were pins as it handed the Winchester Golden Falcons just their second loss of the season, 41-33.

While the final score was relatively close, the match never was. The Patriots scored pins in four of the first five matches for a 24-4 lead. And after Winchester picked up back-to-back wins to cut its deficit to eight points, Jay County responded with three more wins in a row for a 41-16 advantage before the Golden Falcons won the final four matches.

"This is a very good Winchester team," said Myers of the Falcons, whose only other loss came by just four points to Centerville. "What we preached all week was coming out early and getting a lead. I thought we wrestled extremely well tonight. Wrestling from ahead helps."

Wrestling at home, the Patriots started the match at 145 and took the early advantage thanks in part to three second-period pins.

Sam Lyons (145) took a 2-0 first-period lead and pinned Garren Harter in 3-minutes, 12 seconds to give Jay County a 6-0 lead it would never relinquish.

Justin Mann (160) narrowly missed a pin in the opening period as he built a 6-2 lead. But he caught Bill Rosson in a headlock to start the second period and finished the match in 2:52.

Sha White (171) needed just a moment less than Mann after taking a 2-0 lead of Anthony Fodrea in the first period. He scored a reversal at the 1:20 mark of the second and pinned Fodrea in 2:51.

Tom Smith (189) turned in the quickest win of the early matches, taking down Chris White in the opening 10 seconds and finishing him off in 59 seconds.

"I thought the main thing tonight was we got out hustled," said Winchester coach Ron Anderson. "We got beat on basics. That's really not acceptable. If we want to be a good wrestling team we're going to have to come out with more intensity."

After Winchester earned back-to-back wins in the two heaviest weight classes to close the gap, Casey Kenney (103) and Cameron Pfeifer (112) responded with consecutive Patriot pins. Kenney pinned Jonathan Jones in 2:43, and Pfeifer had the fastest pin of the night as he defeated Kyle Coley in 10 seconds.

However, Coley was on the mat for much longer as he suffered a broken bone in his right forearm that Anderson said will end his season. Coley laid on the mat for about 15 minutes and was transported to Jay County Hospital by ambulance.

When action resumed Josh Lochtefeld scored an impressive win over Brian Terhaar, who Myers said came into the evening undefeated. Lochtefeld trailed 4-0 early in the second period, but outscored Terhaar 11-2 and posted a couple of near falls for an 11-6 lead heading into the final two minutes. He dominated the third period 12-2 for a 23-8 technical fall.

"We were hoping to get a decision and instead we got a technical fall," said Myers, who said the match was all about Lochtefeld's approach after the opening period. "Right away (in the second period) he was being really aggressive on his feet, not waiting and taking it to his man."

The consolation for Winchester was that it won the two closest matches of the evening at 125 and 135 pounds. Both were hard-fought matches, with Skyler Finnerty of Jay County and Jared Bogue of Winchester going to overtime in the second of the two.

Finnerty rallied from a 12-9 deficit, coming up with an escape and takedown in the final 20 seconds of the third period. But Bogue used a headlock in overtime and got a takedown just before the buzzer for a 14-12 win.

Winchester's Jake Gibson and the Patriots' Caleb Culy traded the lead several times in the 125-pound match before Gibson evened the tally with an escape at the 1:21 mark of the third period. He added a takedown 10 seconds later and held on for the 9-7 victory.

"They hung tough," said Anderson. "You've got to be happy when guys go out there and give an effort. That was good. That was a little redemption."

Winchester had three pins with Ron Harris (215) topping Zach Ainsworth in 3:36, Adam Chalfant (HWT) beating Baxter Holdcroft in 1:27 and Steve Dosell defeating Keri VanSkyock in 1:27. Jordan Jones (130) added an 18-3 technical fall for the Golden Falcons over Ben Theurer, and Ryan Phenis (152) scored an 11-1 major decision over Alan Brown.

All six junior varsity matches went to Winchester for a 33-0 victory.[[In-content Ad]]