Warrior Run downs once-beaten Montgomery

Jan. 26—MONTGOMERY — In his first season as a heavyweight wrestler, Warrior Run junior Stone Allison has been showing his worth.

After competing at 172 pounds in his freshman season and taking a year off as a sophomore, Allison came up huge in the Defenders' dual meet against Montgomery on Friday night.

Allison's pin of Connor Jarrett helped Warrior Run secure a 41-26 win over the Red Raiders as the Defenders won their anticipated last dual meet of the regular season at Montgomery High School. After Allison's win, the Defenders had an insurmountable 35-15 lead with only three matches to go.

It seemed like Allison would earn his team only three or four points after being up 9-2 late in the third period. However, Allison scored the pin with just 28 seconds left.

The Defenders remain undefeated in duals at 18-0, and they clinched the top seed for next week's District 4 Class 2A team tournament.

"(Allison) has been figuring out how to wrestle heavyweight, and he did a good job of scoring points throughout the match," said Warrior Run coach Jeremy Betz. "He got to a point where he secured the major, and it allowed him to be a little bit more liberal going for the pin. Especially at that point, I didn't realize until I did some math that locks the match in, and makes it a little less stressful for the last few bouts."

The match commenced at 127 where Gavin Hunter took care of Seth McClintock. After the opening period went scoreless, Hunter picked up a takedown in the second period to lead 2-0. Hunter then pulled away in the third period for a 7-2 decision.

At 133, Max Wirnsberger was pitted against Brandt Harer in a matchup of sophomores who both won state medals last season. Harer, who finished second at states at 121 as a freshman, led 11-4 after two periods. However, Wirnsberger was called for stalling in the final 10 seconds of the match, which gave Harer a 12-4 lead and four points for Montgomery with a major decision.

Warrior Run bounced back with bonus-point wins in the following three matches. At 139, Tyler Ulrich just got enough points for a technical fall against A.J. Kroft in an 18-3 win to give the Defenders the lead at 8-4.

Warrior Run's Milheim brothers then made easy work of their opponents. At 145, Reagan Milheim pinned Raiden Felix with 21 seconds left in the second period. Then at 152, Cameron Milheim got the pin against Nevin Beachel with 43 seconds left in the first period as the Defenders opened a 20-4 advantage.

The Red Raiders picked it up at 160, where two-time reigning state champion Conner Harer took on Eli Butler. The Rutgers-bound senior pinned Butler late in the second period to cut the deficit to 20-10.

Then at 172, Cole Shupp earned a tight win over Coy Bryson. Shupp and Bryson were tied at 5 after the second period, but Shupp outscored Bryson 5-2 during the final two minutes for a 10-7 decision. Shupp's win extended the Defenders' lead to 23-10.

"I don't look at the scoreboard," Shupp said. "I just go out and try to score points — that's my mentality. It's not try to make up; it's try to keep scoring. If you keep trying to score points, you'll eventually get it."

After Shupp's win, the two teams split the final six matches. Reigning state qualifiers Manny Stoltzfus and Caden Finck registered technical falls at 107 and 189, respectively, for the Red Raiders. Victor Ottman also pinned Ryan Kemock at 114.

Before Allison won at heavyweight, the Defenders picked up a forfeit at 215. Caden Snyder also pinned Porter Hall during the final match of the night at 121.

Despite handing Montgomery just its second loss of the season, Betz and his team aren't looking past anyone as the district team duals are approaching. Entering Friday, the Red Raiders had lost only to Towanda on Dec. 16.

"It's nice, but it means nothing come next week," Betz said. "You lose two next week, you're done. You're 0-0 and you're trying to come out of every dual meet 1-0. ... As nice as it is to be undefeated now, it means nothing if we don't get the job done next week."

"We're feeling pretty excited," Shupp added. "More wrestling. We love competing as a team. It's a family more than a team, if anything, and the longer we get to compete together, the better."

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WARRIOR RUN 41, MONTGOMERY 26

127: Gavin Hunter (WR) dec. Seth McClintock, 7-2; 133: Brandt Harer (M) major dec. Max Wirnsberger, 12-4; 139: Tyler Ulrich (WR) tech. fall A.J. Kroft, 18-3 (5:58); 145: Reagan Milheim (WR) pinned Raiden Felix, 3:39; 152: Cameron Milheim (WR) pinned Nevin Beachel, 1:17; 160: Conner Harer (M) pinned Eli Butler, 3:42; 172: Cole Shupp (WR) dec. Coy Bryson, 10-7; 189: Caden Finck (M) tech. fall Isaac Butler 20-5 (4:00); 215: Isaiah Betz (WR) won by forfeit; 285: Stone Allison (WR) pinned Connor Jarrett; 5:32; 107: Manny Stoltzfus (M) tech. fall Aaron Crisman 24-7 (6:00); 114: Victor Ottman (M) pinned Ryan Kemock, 2:48; 121: Caden Snyder (WR) pinned Porter Hall, 3:08.