PHOENIXVILLE — Those who witnessed Wednesday night’s Pottsgrove and Phoenixville wrestling match will have it etched on their collective minds for possibly a lifetime.
That is because the match was so closely contested that it had to be resolved by a tiebreaker. And one criteria found deep down the ladder, for that matter.
It turned out to be Criteria H which determined the winner. That one calls for whichever team had the most cumulative points scored first, based on all contested matches. When all the arithmetic was done by referee Mark Marino, the two head coaches and the official scorers, Pottsgrove was declared the winner, 37-36, with 21 initial points scored to Phoenixville’s 12 in the thrilling Pioneer Athletic Conference encounter.
“It was very tight,’ said veteran Pottsgrove coach Jeff Madden, who is in his seventh year with the Falcons and who served a long tenure previously at Wissahickon High School. “I have been in a couple of those (tiebreakers). The one before I lost when I was at Wissahickon.’
Phoenixville dropped the heartbreaker on a night when its eight senior wrestlers were honored on Senior Night. They included Tom Hammaker, Evan Lantrip, Jason Miller, Austin Place, Trey Romance, David Rosati, DuJuan Serrette-Davis and Garrett Serwatka, a career 70-victory veteran who missed the entire season with an elbow injury.
Each side won seven matches. Each school posted three pins. Each school had two forfeit wins. It stood that close throughout the entire evening.
“It was a good one,’ said first-year Phoenixville coach Alec Bown. “We are getting closer and closer. That is all you can say.’
Phoenixville had the momentum early as Miles Davido scored a fall in 43 seconds at 106 pounds to start the match, and Max Shepherd followed with a forfeit win at 113 to give the Phantoms a 12-0 lead. Phoenixville extended the lead to 27-12 following Trey Romance’s fall in 3:11 at 152.
But it still turned out to be not quite enough for the hosts.
Pottsgrove (3-4, 8-6) got pins from Ryan Finn (145, 3:03), Christian Pace (160, 3:33) and Chris DeFrancesco (195, 1:00). The Falcons won two key one-point decisions, both ending 3-2, at 120 and 126, with Chase Banyai and Kylif Underwood nipping the Phantoms’ Serrette-Davis and Anthony Davido, respectively. In the final bout at 285, with the Falcons ahead 36-33, Pottsgrove’s Nick Borzick fought off his back twice against Rosati before dropping an 11-8 battle to the Phantom, which created the 36-all deadlock. Rosati led 4-2 after the first period and 9-6 at the end of two periods.
Pottsgrove’s Evan Weneck (170) and Skylar McLeod (220) were awarded forfeits.
Phoenixville’s third pin came from Tanner Romance at 182 in 1:19. Romance trailed Chris Quintrell after an early takedown, but Romance worked out of the cradle quickly and efficiently, reversed his man and gained the fall to put Phoenixville up 33-24.
The Phantoms’ Hammaker earned a 7-1 decision over Kevin Rodriguez at 132 with two takedowns, two escape points and one penalty point for an illegal hold. Place was awarded a forfeit at 138.
“I can’t remember one that deep,’ Bown said of the tiebreaker. “H, that’s pretty far down. That’s a situation where we had opportunities to score some bonus points and didn’t, and other spots where we were going to give up bonus points. We knew bonus points were going to be key.’
“The biggest one was Nick (Borzick) at heavyweight,’ said Madden. “He was on his back twice, rolled off and battled. That was unbelievable. That was a big match for us.’
Pottsgrove 37
Phoenixville 36
(Criteria H, Total first points scored in each match)
106 – Miles Davido (Px) pinned Michael Kilgore, :43 (0-6)
113 – Max Shepherd (Px) won by forfeit (0-12)
120 – Chase Banyai (Pg) dec. DuJuan Serrette-Davis, 3-2 (3-12)
126 – Kylif Underwood (Pg) dec. Anthony Davido, 3-2 (6-12)
132- Tom Hammaker (Px) dec. Kevin Rodriguez, 7-1 (6-15)
138 – Austin Place (Px) won by forfeit (6-21)
145 – Ryan Finn (Pg) pinned Evan Lantrip, 3:03 (12-21)
152 – Trey Romance (Px) pinned Michael Roth, 3:11 (12-27)
160 – Christian Pace (Pg) pinned Nate Duff, 3:33 (18-27)
170 – Evan Weneck (Pg) won by forfeit (24-27)
182 – Tanner Romance (Px) pinned Chris Quintrell, 1:19 (24-33)
195 – Chris DeFrancesco (Pg) pinned Bryce Thompson, 1:00 (30-33)
220 – Skylar McLeod (Pg) won by forfeit (36-33)
285 – David Rosati (Px) dec. Nick Borzick, 11-8 (36-36)
