Valley Sports ReportTOWANDA - Towanda won the final four weight classes by fall to rally for a 48-26 win over Athens here Tuesday night in NTL wrestling action.
The first nine weight classes featured eight lead changes between the Wildcats and Black Knights.
Towanda’s Sawyer Robinson kicked off the match with a first-period pin of freshman Jonathan Timm in the 189-pound match to give the Black Knights a 6-0 lead.
Athens sophomore Caleb Nason tied the match with a pin of Tristan Conklin 1:39 at 215 pounds.
Junior Josh Nittinger gave the Wildcats a 9-6 lead with a 3-0 win over Towanda’s Audy Vanderpool in one of the marquee match-ups of the night at 285 pounds.
The Black Knights regained the lead briefly after receiving a forfeit at 107 pounds, but junior Mason Vanderpool quickly put Athens back ahead, at 15-12, with a 29-second pin of Wyatt Stranger at 114 pounds.
At 121 pounds, Hayden Space pinned Athens’ Keaton Sinsabaugh in 3:27 to put Towanda back ahead, 18-15.
Freshman Daltton Davis kept the back-and-forth going with a 19-2 technical fall victory over Anthony Rifenbark at 127 pounds. Davis finished off the technical fall at 5:52 to give the Wildcats a 20-18 lead.
In another marquee match-up at 133 pounds, Towanda’s Rylee Sluyter led Athens freshman Cooper Robinson, 3-1, when he finished the bout with a pin at 5:57 to give the Black Knights a 24-20 lead.
Sluyter scored a first-period takedown, and led 2-0. After trading escapes, Sluyter led 3-1, and Robinson shot for a late takedown, only to have Sluyter counter with a chin whip to put him on his back for the fall.
In the final marquee match-up of the night, Athens senior Jake Courtney erased a 9-2 deficit when he locked in a cradle to pin once-beaten Towanda sophomore Riley Vanderpool in 5:42 in their 139-pound bout to give the Wildcats their least lead of the night, at 26-24.
Courtney scored an early takedown, and led 2-0, but Vanderpool escaped, and hit a double-leg, taking Courtney to his back to extend the lead to 6-2.
After riding top the entire second period, Vanderpool scored an escape off the third-period whistle, and then a takedown midway through the period to make it 9-2.
With 37 seconds remaining, Vanderpool cut Courtney. Moments later, the official stopped the match to talk to Towanda administrators about a few members of the student section’s behavior.
Once the match re-started, Vanderpool shot in on a single-leg, and Courtney countered, locking in a cradle to score the fall with 18 seconds remaining.
Chase Guerin, Aiden Miller, Jace Gunther, and Mason Higley all scored first-period pins in the final four weight classes to rally Towanda to the win.
Athens, now 2-5, returns to action Thursday at Sayre.
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IN PHOTO 1: Athens junior Josh Nittinger. … PHOTOS COURTESY OF ED BOARDMAN.
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TOWANDA 48, ATHENS 26
189: Sawyer Robinson (T) by fall over Johnathan Timm (A), 1:29;
215: Caleb Nason (A) by fall over Tristin Conklin (T), 1:39;
285: Joshua Nittinger (A) dec. Audy Vanderpool (T), 3-0;
107: Bryghton Yale (T) by won by forfeit;
114: Mason Vanderpool (A) by fall over Wyatt Stranger (T), 0:29;
121: Hayden Space (T) by fall over Keaton Sinsabaugh (A), 3:27;
127: Daltton Davis (A) tech. fall over Anthony Rifenbark (T), 19-2 @ 5:52;
133: Rylee Sluyter (T) by fall over Cooper Robinson (A), 5:57;
139: Jacob Courtney (A) by fall over Riley Vanderpool (T), 5:42;
145: Chase Geurin (T) by fall over Emiliano Mallare (A), 1:38;
152: Aiden Miller (T) by fall over Trey Souder (A), 0:46;
160: Jace Gunther (T) by fall over Keegan Congdon (A), 1:40;
172: Mason Higley (T) by fall over Alexzander Trowbridge (A), 1:03.
