BOYERTOWN >> There are no more Eukers in Perkiomen Valley’s wrestling pipeline.
Good for the Vikings’ opponents, not so much for them. Suffice it to say, they’re enjoying the “brother act” the Euker family has provided PV, and its contributions to the Vikes’ success this winter.
The latest case in point happened Wednesday, when Perk Valley visited Boyertown. In a Liberty Division matchup of high-placed teams — one marked by three lead changes in the final weight classes — the Vikings pulled off a 33-30 victory over the Bears.
And the Euker siblings — junior Grant, freshman twins Cole and Carter — were key to that outcome. They accounted for 15 of their team’s points with a pair of pins and one gritty overtime decision.
Grant was the Vikes’ comeback hero. With Boyertown ahead 30-27 heading into the 215-pound finale, the eldest Euker scored a 50-second pin that gave the visitors their first victory over the Bears since Feb. 8, 2011.
“We definitely knew they were going to be tough,” Grant said of Boyertown, whose 10-3 overall record coming in matched PV’s. “There were some close matchups across the board. Our team did a good job getting the extra points.”
The competitiveness of the match spoke to the similarity of the teams’ records 1-1/2 months into the season. Boyertown (2-2 PAC and Liberty) countered PV’s initial 12-point start with a technical fall and three decisions (one major) between 113 and 132.
The Vikes (3-0 Liberty, 4-0 PAC) regained a three-point (18-15) advantage with Kelly Kakos’ second-period pin at 138. Dominic Sheridan pulled the Bears even with a decision at 145, and Chance Babb injury-default win at 152 gave the home team its biggest lead of the night.
It lasted only until Carter Euker went overtime for a 2-0 decision of Ryder Gehris at 160, and Carson Pascoe — with Gavin, the program’s other twin grapplers — scored a second-period fall at 172. Boyertown’s answer, and final lead of the night, was Leo Egbe pinning in the second period at 189.
“We were jockeying more weights,” PV head coach Dave Thomas noted. “We’ve only had two practices where all 18 of our kids were there. We’re still doing good.”
One difference Boyertown head coach Tony Haley pointed out was the number of extra points PV scored. Along with their four pins, the Vikings also had the edge in competing wrestlers with the Bears forced to forfeit at 106.
“Hats off to PV. They wrestled well,” Haley said. “Their kids did what they’re supposed to do. We missed bonus points, and they got pins.”
The Vikings outpinned Boyertown, 4-3. That demonstrated another point Haley made about his team’s performance.
“The problem is, we get pinned too much,” he said. “We put ourselves in bad positions.”
To its credit, Boyertown got a technical fall from Sonny Mash at 113 and major decision from Gavin Sheridan at 126. Dominic Sheridan also recorded a solid 13-7 decision of PV’s Luke Ricci at 145.
Both teams came into the dual off appearances at the prestigious Escape the Rock Tournament staged last weekend at Council Rock South. Kakos, Cole Euker and Ricci all made it to the third round of consolations before being eliminated.
For his part, Kakos (21-3) found the experience of competing against the top-flight talent the tourney attracts invaluable.
“When it was over, I spent Sunday watching film and practicing, working on things,” he said. “One was the low single … focus coming up on my knee.”
The highest-finishing ETR wrestler between the programs was Chance Babb, The Bear senior placed sixth at 145, his first medal-round qualification in three appearances capping a 5-3 weekend.
Boyertown and PV will now join the rest of the Pioneer Athletic Conference at Pottsgrove for Saturday’s individual championship. For his part, Thomas is looking for the Vikings to add an elusive laurel to its program.
“That counts toward the league championship,” he said. “We’ve never won the PAC, and we want to do that. We want to move the program forward.”
NOTES: Grant and Cole Euker had the night’s fastest falls, both coming in under one minute. … Chance Babb, improving his season record to 26-6, also moved single digits away from the 100-win mark for his scholastic career. He came out of the match with 91 victories in a bid to join the Boyertown program’s lengthy list of 100-win grapplers, which currently numbers 35.
Perkiomen Valley 33, Boyertown 30
285 – Cole Euker (PV) pinned Matt Cavalari, 59 (6-0)
106 – Luke Haas (PV) won by forfeit (12-0)
113 – Sonny Mash (Bt) won by technical fall over Joey Capaldo, 4:42 (12-5)
120 – Luke Heimbach (Bt) dec. Conner Kim, 7-0 (12-8)
126 – Gavin Sheridan (Bt) dec. Pat Lamirande, 14-0 (12-12)
132 – Beck Babb (Bt) dec. Aidan Stratton, 10-4 (12-15)
138 – Kelly Kakos (PV) pinned Owen Dykie, 2:54 (18-15)
145 – Dominic Sheridan (Bt) dec. Luke Ricci, 13-7 (18-18)
152 – Chance Babb (Bt) won by injury default over Gavin Pascoe, 2:41 (18-24)
160 – Carter Euker (PV) dec. Ryder Gehris, 2-0 OT (21-24)
172 – Carson Pascoe (PV) pinned Nick Montayne, 3:42 (27-24)
189 – Leo Egbe (Bt) pinned Paul Popplewell, 2:37 (27-30)
215 – Grant Euker (PV) pinned Michael Kelleher, :50 (33-30)
