Rustin rolls past W.C. East
EAST GOSHEN — The final score was a bit deceiving, as the majority of the contested bouts between West Chester Rustin and West Chester East were close, competitive matches. But the Golden Knights came out ahead in all but two of them, and stormed to a 54-6 nonleague victory over their crosstown rival.
“Anytime you are in a rivalry match like we were tonight, the intensity level is going to be high,’ said Rustin coach Brad Harkins. “But, I’m proud of the way our guys wrestled tonight. They were on the attack and earning wins. That’s all you can ask for.’
Rustin charged out to a huge early lead, collecting forfeits at 220 and 285 pounds before Adam Cooper and Brett Kaliner posted wins at 106 and 113 respectively. Cooper countered his way to a pair of takedowns in a 5-1 decision over Ethan Samuel, while Kaliner came out strong and never looked back, kicking off the action with a five-point takedown with a pancake, then adding another takedown and two turns to go up 12-1 at the end of one, then put it away with a bar-and-half combo for the fall in 3:31.
“I really think we’re all peaking at the right time,’ said Kaliner. “The captains and coaches push us in the room, and I really think we’re already to get the post-season started. I think we’re going to do well as a team.’
The 120-pound bout featured a highly anticipated matchup between East’s Noah Hankin and Rustin’s Jon Reardon. The pair split their two matches a year ago.
Hankin struck first blood, winning the second of two crazy scrambles early on, then added second-period escape to take a 3-1 lead into the third. Reardon cut the lead to one with a reversal late in the third, but while trying to tack on back points for the win, gave up another reversal at the buzzer to give Hankin the 5-2 victory.
“Noah’s having a really nice year, and we’re trying to get him the best match-ups we can to prepare him for the post season,’ said East coach John Gallo. “He and Reardon were 1-1 last season, so this was a nice test for him, and he came away with the win.’
Ethan Harkins put Rustin back on the winning track with a pin at 126, locking up a crossface cradle to deck Tommy Luke in 3:54. Dan Labus hit a cradle of his own against Hank Kahl at 132, locking up a nearside for the pin in 1:27.
At 138, Rustin’s James Spaniak hit a pair of switches for reversal, and added a takedown and two nearfall for a 10-2 win over Campbell Wolov. Tanner Monigal was a 5-2 winner for the Knights at 145, getting the decision over Pater Fabiani.
Tyler Labus kept the streak going for the Golden Knights at 152, notching three takedowns en route to a 7-3 decision over Justin Cooper.
The Vikings’ final win came at 160, where Aaron Nelson broke a 1-1 third-period tie with a reversal.
After a pair of scoreless periods to start the match at 170, Rustin’s Shane Boyer got a reversal to start the third, but Caleb Subach broke free for an escape to make it 2-1. Boyer got a takedown, and while Subach did get a reversal to make it 4-3, that lead held up as the final in a victory for Boyer.
The Golden Knights’ Costas Hatziplivides scored the opening takedown quickly at 182, but Ryan Orr just as quickly tied it at 2-2 with a reversal. Unfortunately for Orr, that score seemed to spark something in Hatzipivlides, as he poured it on from there, titlting his way to a 17-2 second-period technical fall.
“I kind of got my foot stuck and that let to the reversal,’ said Hatziplivides. “From then on, I just got myself in attack mode and just kept trying to score.’
The Golden Knights finished with another win at 195, with Sean Weaver scratching out a 3-2 decision over Eric Gassenmeyer.
“We just need to really work on our fundamentals,’ said Gallo. There were a few matches, especially in the upper weights, we might have won if we showed solid fundamentals.’
