WESTTOWN >> West Chester Rustin’s Brett Kaliner had waited just over a year for another shot at Unionville’s Jake Taylor. So fortunately for the Golden Knight junior, Wednesday night’s dual meet starting weight wouldn’t delay him any longer.
The Ches-Mont American Division contest started with the feature bout of the night, pitting Kaliner (120 pounds) and Taylor for the fourth time in their high school careers. Kaliner won the first two, but Taylor got round three in their sophomore year.
In round four, Kaliner scored all three takedowns in a 7-3 decision to set the tone for a 42-21 home win for Rustin.
Kaliner, who’s ranked No. 5 in the District 1 rankings, scored two highly-contested takedowns against Taylor, who is No. 3, in the first two periods and added another late in the third to ice his 20th win of the season.
“I’ve been looking forward to that match since last year,” Kaliner said. “He’s a great opponent and I love wrestling with him, and I’ve been wrestling with him since we were nine years old. It was nice to get the win.”
Younger brother, Tyler Kaliner (126), followed with a third-period fall to give Rustin (2-0 division, 4-2 overall) a 9-0 lead. Unionville (2-1, 9-4) struck back, getting hard-earned decisions from Mitch Camp (132) and Joe Caldwell (138) to cut the deficit to three.
“We had our three captains right away and it could’ve been something really positive,” Unionville coach Chris Matz said. “You have to give (Rustin) credit, they beat two of our three captains right off the bat and we had to catch up.”
Rustin wouldn’t allow that, and Dan Labus (145) started a run of seven straight wins by the Golden Knights. In that spurt, Alex Halladay (182) and Isaiah Spriggs (220) earned pins, as the lead stretched to 36 points.
The Golden Knights were coming off a disappointing weekend in which they suffered losses to Spring Grove and Garnet Valley at the Rage in the Cage tournament. With the District 1 Duals only two weeks away, Rustin needed a strong answer.
“I’m definitely proud the way they bounced back,” Rustin coach Brad Harkins said. “We were a little flat Saturday, but every team hits bumps in the road and it’s all about how you respond and they responded very well as a group.”
Unionville closed out the night with three victories, highlighted by pins from Jack Baccellieri (285) and Jacob Lehman (106).
The last four seasons Rustin and Unionville have finished in the top two spots of the American Division. The Golden Knights have won five of the last six division titles, so even though there is a month left in the regular season, Wednesday night’s result could go a long way to decide the year’s champ.
“As a team we try to do each dual meet the same,” Harkins said. “We want the kids to come in with intensity and we want them to go out battling as a group. We don’t put importance on one over the other, but certainly we have a good rivalry with those guys and I’m pleased with the way our guys handled it.”
West Chester Rustin 42, Unionville 21
120: B. Kaliner (WCR) dec. Taylor, 7-3 (3-0)
126: T. Kaliner (WCR) pinned Immediato, 4:37 (9-0)
132: Camp (UV) dec. Reardon, 4-0 (9-3)
138: Caldwell (UV) dec. Spaniak, 5-4 (9-6)
145: Labus (WCR) dec. Larson, 9-3 (12-6)
152: Hurley (WCR) inj. def. Luckenbach (18-6)
160: Kent (WCR) dec. Raffety, 12-5 (21-6)
170: Lamberjack (WCR) dec. Smallacombe, 6-1 (24-6)
182: Halladay (WCR) pinned Julier, 1:09 (30-6)
195: Hatzipavlides (WCR) pinned Maguire, 2:59 (36-6)
220: Spriggs (WCR) pinned Lyons, :31 (42-6)
285: Baccellieri (UV) pinned Cummings, 1:07 (42-12)
106: Lehman (UV) pinned Fichter, 1:00 (42-18)
113: G. Rogers (UV) dec. Cooper, 7-5 (42-21)
