POTTSTOWN — Three matches in three days.
That’s the schedule to wrap up the week for the Pottstown wrestling team — a Wednesday night battle with Methacton, another one Thursday with Pope John Paul II and one last head-banger with Owen J. Roberts on Friday night.
That’s not the type of schedule Trojans head coach Brad Bechtel would have liked to wrap up his team’s regular season, to say the least but if Wednesday night’s performance is any indication of what could come, Pottstown is in pretty good position.
The Trojans jumped on visiting Methacton early and often and never looked back en route to a 52-18 win in Pioneer Athletic Conference wrestling action at Strom Gymnasium.
“[We] came out and fought well,’ Bechtel said. “We got together before the match and set some goals because of having the three matches in three nights, and they just came out and went after them.’
Asked what those goals were, Bechtel had no problem providing a quick response.
“We wanted to focus on getting the bonus points and not giving them up, and getting points anywhere we could,’ he said, acknowledging that his team could comfortably place a check mark next to each of the three goals. “They came out focused and wrestled well, and that’s what I wanted to see with two more PAC-10 matches to go in two nights.
“That’s a good start.’
Pottstown jumped out to a quick 22-6 lead on first-period pins by 285-pounder Ray Bumbarger and Nate Parson (120), an Alex Caballero major decision at 113 and a forfeit at 126.
The Warriors’ Bryce Reddington cut the deficit to 22-9 with a decision over Bryce Pennypacker at 132, but the Trojans answered with a Bryant Wise decision at 138 and a 35-second fall by Mason Pennypacker (145) to make it a 31-9 match.
Pottstown then went on to win four of the final six bouts, including three straight falls from Ernest McCalvin (170), Nyles Rome (182) and Alex Humma (195) and a well-wrestled 3-2 decision by Isaiah Mayes (160) to seal the victory.
Mayes found himself in a 1-0 hole early in the second period of his match with Methacton’s Mike Gradwell, a match in which Mayes struggled early to find any openings. An escape to start the third period and a quick ensuing takedown later, and Mayes was up 3-1 and seemingly in control.
Gradwell was awarded a point when Mayes was hit for stalling to cut his lead to 3-2 with under a minute to go, but Mayes held his Warrior counterpart off to hold on for the win.
“Give credit to the Pottstown kids. There are some places where the Pottstown kids are not super talented right now, but they are all super tough, and they fight you,’ Methacton head coach A.J. Maida said. “That’s where we’re trying to get our young guys to be. We’re trying to get our young guys who aren’t super talented to come out and be super tough, but we just didn’t have that tonight.
“It’s just about toughness here. It’s not about the wrestling.’
On the other end of the mat, Bechtel was already getting ready for Pope John Paul II, and he’s making sure his Trojans don’t celebrate their win for too long.
“It was a good win, but it is over and we have two more matches to focus on right now,’ he said. “We have to keep the momentum going, and keep the positivity going, but we can’t celebrate this one for too long because we have another one coming up [today].’
Pottstown 52
Methacton 18
285 – Ray Bumbarger (PT) pinned James Quarles, 1:00 (6-0)
106 – Corey Blue (M) won by forfeit (6-6)
113 – Alex Caballero (PT) maj. dec. Cameron George, 12-3 (10-6)
120 – Nate Parson (PT) pinned Gage Gelband, :54 (16-6)
126 – William Gephart (PT) won by forfeit (22-6)
132 – Bryce Reddington (M) dec. Bryce Pennypacker, 3-1 (22-9)
138 – Bryant Wise (PT) dec. Dylan Henry, 5-4 (25-9)
145 – Mason Pennypacker pinned Steven Denner, :35 (31-9)
152 – Brendan Marion (M) dec. Saddiq Ibn-Mustafah, 6-5 (31-12)
160 – Isaiah Mayes (PT) dec. Mike Gradwell, 3-2 (34-12)
170 – Ernest McCalvin (PT) pinned Yusef Qawasmy, 2:30 (40-12)
182 – Nyles Rome (PT) pinned Max Dougan, 1:32 (46-12)
195 – Alex Humma (PT) pinned Pat Maloney, 1:12 (52-12)
220 – Shuajb Nuredini (M) pinned Tom Doyle, :30 (52-18)
