HS Boys’ Wrestling: North Schuylkill wins showdown against Blue Mountain
North Schuylkill's Noah Leib turns Blue Mountain's Brian Brobst for the fall during their 133-pound bout Wednesday night. North Schuylkill defeated Blue Mountain 43-27. (Photo by Dominic Zembas)
FOUNTAIN SPRINGS — Losing a match he expected to win and trailing after four bouts, North Schuylkill head coach Corey Fetterolf turned to his team and shouted: “Find a way!”
Noah Leib, Kaden Tavares and the rest of the Spartans were listening.
Come-from-behind falls from Leib and Tavares turned the tide as North Schuylkill held off Blue Mountain 43-27 on Wednesday in a Schuylkill League Division I showdown at the Cesari-Hope Gymnasium.
With the win, North Schuylkill (13-2, 3-0 D-I) took control of the Division I race. A victory over Pottsville on Jan. 21 will officially clinch the Spartans’ second straight dual-meet crown and the 25th in program history.
“We had this one circled at the beginning of the year. … This was one of those stepping stones,” Fetterolf said. “We’ll just keep putting one (win) in front of the other and see what happens.”
Before close dual meets, coaches often perform “mat calculus.” It goes something like this: You take the matchups at each weight, predict who will win and with how many bonus points, then add up the total to see if that lineup has enough to win. Coaches are known to run multiple tests, bumping wrestlers, switching results, experimenting with different combinations, trying to figure out the keys to victory on match night.
That’s why a concerned Fetterolf urged his team to respond after Blue Mountain (9-7, 1-1) took a 12-11 lead after four matches.
The Spartans’ Gaige Mentusky got his team off to a strong start with a 16-0 technical fall in 3:20 over Grayson Freed. Two takedowns and three sets of back points did the job for the senior 107-pounder.
After Caden Fenstermacher won by forfeit for the Eagles at 114, North Schuylkill’s Stanley Padakowski armbarred Aidan Bossons in 37 seconds for an 11-6 Spartans lead.
Then fate threw a curveball at Fetterolf and the Spartans. At 127, Blue Mountain’s Cooper Leibold and North Schuylkill’s Alex Deritis locked up in an entertaining bout tied 10-10 heading to the third period. About 30 seconds in, Deritis lifted Leibold off the mat. In an awkward sequence, Leibold came down hard and Deritis got called for an illegal slam. After exhausting recovery time, Leibold couldn’t continue. The penalty gave Leibold the victory and gave the Eagles a 12-11 advantage.
“I had that one in our column. … That’s a nine-point swing,” Fetterolf said. “They left it all on the mat after that. This group is like that.”
Blue Mountain’s Brian Brobst (133) came out fired up in the next match, driving Leib to his back for a seven-point move in the opening seconds. Somehow, Leib avoided getting pinned, reversed Brobst to his back, cinched tight around Brobst’s head and pinned him in 34 seconds. Leib leaped to his feet and pumped his fist as the Spartans’ bench celebrated. Another swing, this one 12 points.
“Out of nowhere,” Fetterolf said.
“Kudos to Noah Leib. He’s been wrestling some quality kids this year and just coming up short a little bit,” the coach added. “Tonight, he knew he had another quality kid, but the moment wasn’t too big for him. He kept his composure, did what he needed to do and stuck him.”
Freshman Brock Holmes (139) continued the momentum for North Schuylkill, piling up two takedowns and three sets of near-fall points in a 15-0 technical fall in 5:22 over Troy Mady. The win gave the Spartans a 22-12 lead after six matches.
Those victories proved important because Blue Mountain took two of the next three matches. At 145, Bryce Bodenberg rode two takedowns and a reversal to an 8-2 decision over Bode Gates. At 160, Owen Woll pinned Jayden Billus in 1:11.
In between, Tavares (152) engineered at least a 10-point swing by pinning Thomas Herring in 2:48. Early on, it was all Herring with two takedowns, four near-fall points and an escape for a 10-1 lead. Tavares, though, refused to quit and eventually created an opportunity. He hit Herring with a lateral drop, tossing him to his back for the pin, setting off another celebration on the North Schuylkill bench.
Leading 28-21 with four matches left, all the Spartans had to do was split the final four bouts. They took 3-of-4 to finish with eight wins overall.
Bumping up to 172, Bryce Kile cradled Preston Whalen in 1:23. Connor Dower (189) used a pair of takedowns to shut out Joseph Frey 7-0. And Cadyn McGraw (215) built a 7-0 lead before driving a deep half-nelson and pinning Dylan Foose in 2:58.
Vaughn Helverson (285) scored a fall for the Eagles in the final bout.
“From individual matches to the way it snowballs with these guys,” Fetterolf said, “they feed off each other. And when somebody lights the fire, it’s hard to put it out.”
