LEWISBURG – The Arcanum wrestling team opened up its season by trying very hard at the Tri-County North tri-meet, ultimately falling closely in both matches versus Carlisle and Tri-County North.
The Trojans fell in their first match to Warren County foe Carlisle, 27-25, and later lost out to homestanding and fellow Cross County Conference member TCN, 28-21, in another epic battle in front of about 300 spectators.
The wrestlers wrestle 3 two minute periods and if there is a tie go into overtime and if it is still tied, go to criteria of who is the most aggressive wrestler. The criteria all the spectators could agree on Monday night is that they all got their money’s worth and then some.
The sum of two halves is a whole and there was a whole lot of excitement happening out on the mats at the TCN gymnasium with the junior high teams wrestling on the other mat. Arcanum had no one to place on the mat at the 106-, 113- and 120-pound category, but fortunately neither did Carlisle so no points were awarded either way. At 126 pounds, sophomore Cameron Haney went up against district qualifier Justin Richie and lost a tight match at 5-2. The 132-pound match was double trouble for both squads as neither team had anyone to toe the mat for grappling action. Senior Ethin Hoffman won by forfeit at 132 pounds for 6 quick points, and senior Devon Kuhbander took control of Dallas Hicks at 145 pounds by a strong 14-2 major decision getting four points. At 152 pounds, junior Braydin Gillem faced C.J. Worley and won an exciting match not decided until the last seconds, 4-2. Senior Devin Keckler at 160 pounds got the easiest win possible and six points with a forfeit. Sophomore Cael Gostomsky at 170 pounds got ousted by Kaden Langdon at the 1:27 mark on a pin to close the scoring deficit. Freshman Marcus Fourman saw his first varsity match and was pinned by Gabe Bowser at the :48 second mark of the first canto. Junior Dylan Rhodehamel pinned Tyler Carl at the :53 second mark of the first period at 195 pounds for a 25-15 advantage in favor of Jarod Beatty’s Trojans.
However, there were two matches left and both went the Indians’ way. At 220 pounds 9th grader Jack Reed got pinned by Jordan Sweeney with :46 seconds left to go in the 1st period, and at heavyweight, Arcanum had forfeit with no one at this weight for the time being due to injury. That six points was enough to stem the tide and the match to 27-25 in favor of the Warren County squad.
Next up was the heavily-favored and host Tri-County North Panthers, who clawed up Carlisle 46-7 in their previous match. Arcanum came out even more aggressive in this match and gave the host Panthers all that and then some for an exciting match to view.
First up was Cameron Haney at 132, who wrestled really well in the third and took down Hunter Heck 10-4 as Trojan nation looked on. The 138-pound match saw Ethin Hoffman grappling with experienced Chase Eby in the most exciting match of the night. Hoffman was up 9-3 only to see Eby score six straight to tie it up at 9 before an a escape by Hoffman hushed the North fans for a 10-9 win. Devin Kuhbander went up against Jaden Irwinat 145 pounds and won by pinning his Panther opponent in the second frame at the :24 second mark. Braydin Gillem (152 pounds) went up against North’s Mason Hessler in the longest match of the night due to blood time outs and fell 20-9. The 160-pound match showcased Devin Keckler against Zane Krull and Keckler scored 6 of the last 8 points to win going away, 16-11. Weighing in at 170 pounds was Cael Gostomsky, who grappled with Tristen Hasslett and this match saw Hasslett prevailing in a pin at 15 seconds of the first canto. At 182 pounds, Marcus Fourman tried to make his mark against Dylan Curtin, but Curtin cut to the chase and won quickly on a pin at the 1:06 time of the first. Dylan Rhodehamel (195) rode up quickly against Kyle Donohoo and pinned him with a series of moves at the one minute mark of the first frame making it 21-16 in favor of Arcanum.
Jack Reed was up next at 220 pounds against Clayton Finney and got pinned at 37 seconds of the first for North’s first advantage, 22-21. Lastly, Arcanum had to forfeit heavyweight to Blade Root of North which gave them the final 6 points and the win at 28-21.
”Not having our heavyweight really hurt us tonight and ended up deciding both of our matches in the end, but we are a young team except for a handful of seniors. Wrestling tonight was good for our freshman as they know what more to expect. Tri-County North was more of a complete team and Carlisle is more like us, but we competed well and look forward to the Oakwood Invitational this Saturday,” Beatty said.
