PG turns tables on Blue Raiders

When Pine Grove faced off against Tamaqua nine days ago in their regular season dual match, there were several differences in the way the match panned out — especially the final score.

A little over a week ago, the Blue Raiders won easily over the Cardinals in dual meet.

However, this time, in the District 11 2A bracket, the two teams met again, with Pine Grove taking a 44-34 victory to move on to the next round.

So how did the Cardinals turn a 48-25 regular season loss into a postseason victory?

“There were two or three swing bouts that affected both matches,” Pine Grove head coach Ken Newswanger said. “And this time, those matches just went our way, and those were big swings.”

At 113, the Cards’ Cade Schneck — who was pinned the first time the teams met, came out and reversed the result — as he pinned Austin Oncay in 2:54. At 220 pounds, Christopher Shadle accomplished the same feat as he notched a mat-slapper over Tamaqua’s Brayden Hess in 1:26.

“The thing is, we knew our kids had good chances to do what they did,” Newswanger said. “We have confidence in our guys’ ability out there.”

With as many differences in the two matches between the Schuylkill League squads, there were a lot of similarities as well. At 182 and 145, the Blue Raiders saw the exact same outcomes, as John Buday and Caleb Sell both earned six points for their team.

“John Buday stepped in for us at 182 and got the fall, which was nice,” Tamaqua head coach Jim McCabe said. “We also thought (Aaron) Coccio stepped up for us today, wrestling a tough kid like Ayden Ney (138 pounds), who he beat by one point up there the first time, but then getting the fall for us today.”

The Blue Raiders had to deal without two of their regulars in the lineup this time around, as Carson Krell and Dax Weller didn’t participate. In the Jan. 22 meeting, Krell earned a decision at 170, while Weller gave up a decision at 160.

This time at 160, the Cardinals picked up five points with a tech fall by Gavin Harris, while teammate Caleb Reider took a forfeit at 170.

Those valuable points made the difference this time.

For the Raiders, Randy Steigerwalt earned a major at 132, to go along with Sell and Coccio’s pins. In addition, Bronson Strouse and Nate Wickersham both picked up forfeits.

“We still have four matches to wrestle on our schedule and we’re just going to continue to work on improving,” McCabe said about the Blue Raiders. “We’re going to keep working on the things that make us better.”

ADVANCING ... Pine Grove lost to Wilson immediately following its win over Tamaqua. The Cardinals’ still advanced to the loser’s bracket round of the tournament that begins at 9 a.m. Saturday at Bethlehem Freedom High School. Tamaqua was eliminated from the tournament.

Pine Grove 44, Tamaqua 34

106 - Aiden Geist (PG) won by forfeit; 113 - Cade Schneck (PG) pinned Austin Oncay in 2:54; 120 - Travis Anderson (PG) pinned Tyler Hazlett in :50; 126 - Nick Wolff (PG) pinned Michael Shlanta in 5:01; 132 - Randy Steigerwalt (T) major dec. William Ulsh, 12-1; 138 - Aaron Coccio (T) pinned Ayden Ney in 1:24; 145 - Caleb Sell (T) pinned Sami Good in 1:23; 152 - Christopher Charles (PG) dec. Cole Eberts, 12-9; 160 - Gavin Harris (PG) tech. fall Michael Levy, 16-0; 170 - Caleb Reider (PG) won by forfeit; 182 - John Buday (T) pinned Tyler Eller in 1:50; 195 - Nate Wickersham (T) won by forfeit; 220 - Chris Shadle (PG) pinned Brayden Hess in 1:26; 285 - Bronson Strouse (T) pinned Landry in 3:48.