January 24 , 2011
ByTroy Baranik-Wrestling Team Member

Pembroke, NC-Sophomore133 pounder Sterling Perry’s 4-0 record over the weekend was one of the bright spots for the St. Andrews wrestling team at the Super 1 Region Duals at UNC-Pembroke.

Even though Perry was the only wrestler undefeated, Junior Eric Brown, Sophomore Richard Manwarren, and Junior Justin Hoover all were 2-2 over the weekend against some tough competition. St. Andrews wrestled 3 teams from the north and one from the south. They lost all 4 matches but had many starters out of the lineup due to multiple reasons. However, St. Andrews will not compete against the 3 northern teams the rest of the way because they are in a different region this year. The only team the Knights wrestled this weekend from their new region is King College (TN).

St. Andrews first wrestled King College Friday night and got off to a fast start with two stunning pins by Brown and Perry at 125 lbs and 133 lbs respectively. Brown and Perry both used perfectly executed cradles to pin their opponents. Matt Fletcher, wrestling up a weight class, was even leading his match before falling in overtime to Francisco Bisono. Then, the tide started to turn in King’s favor. Senior 149 pounder Greg Todd was winning his bout before dislocating his shoulder and had to default.
King College went on to win the remaining bouts with the final score 38-12.

The Knights next wrestled Shippensburg University out of Pennsylvania. The bright spots in this match included a win by forfeit at 133 for Perry and a tough win by Manwarren 4-2 at 174 after he bumped up to the next weight class to help out the team. Hoover then lost a close 3-2 decision at heavyweight as the Knights lost 38-9.

St. Andrews then wrestled against nationally-ranked West Liberty St. University out of West Virginia Saturday morning. The Knights wrestled very tough this match as they came close to upsetting the Hilltoppers before losing 24-21.

Brown started off the match by getting a determined 13-9 decision at 125. Perry’s 9-3 decision put the Knights up 6-0 through 2 matches. After two losses at 141 and 149 and a forfeit win for Senior Troy Baranik at 157, the match of the day arrived at 165.

Manwarren was trailing West Liberty’s Jarrod Shaw 9-6 with about 30 seconds to go in the third period before Shaw connected with an uppercut punch at Manwarren. The referee immediately stopped the match after the punch and not only deducted a team point from West Liberty but disqualified Shaw giving Manwarren a win by default and 6 points for the team.

This put the Knights up 18-7 with 4 bouts to go. After a pin by the Hilltoppers at 174, 149 pounder Caleb Mitcler was thrown into the match at 184 at the last minute to try and help out the team since St. Andrews was missing their starter Greg Pattis. After a valiant effort, he lost by fall. Trailing 24-18, Justin Hoover was called upon at heavyweight to try and get the pin St. Andrews needed to tie the match, but could only do so much with a 270 lb. opponent that was stalling and won 2-0 to make the final 24-21.

In the Knight’s last match of the weekend they faced off against Seton Hill University out of western PA. Sterling Perry, Freshman Kevin Hall, and Hoover were all winners for the Knights during the match. Perry has now won 6 out of his last 7 matches to run his record to 11-7 on the year.

However, Eric Brown (125) and Richard Manwarren (165) put out great efforts before losing their hard-fought bouts. Brown lost 6-1 to nationally ranked and returning All-American Kenny Trumbetta and Manwarren lost a close 7-3 decision in the last few seconds. Seton Hill went on to win the dual 36-15.

Another note from the weekend, super utility man, freshman James Green has now wrestled in 5 different weight classes this season.

“We had more patches in our lineup than a quilt,” stated Head Coach Joe Baranik. “I’m proud of the guys that stepped up and wrestled- some more than 3 weight classes higher than their normal weight class. I’m pleased to see that we seem to be improving every time we take the mat. I was especially pleased with the West Liberty match. We only lost by 3 points and WLSU was ranked as high as 15 th in the country earlier this year.”

The Knights return to action this Tuesday as they travel to Spartanburg, SC to take on Spartanburg Methodist College. St. Andrews’ next home matches are this Friday and Saturday as they host UNC-Pembroke at 7pm Friday night and Shorter University (GA) at Noon on Saturday. Saturday’s match will recognize seniors, Greg Todd and Troy Baranik. Also being recognized is Justin Hoover who will be graduating in December of this year.

King College 38, St. Andrews 12
125 – Eric Brown (SA) won by pin over Richard Williams (KC), 4:40
133 – Sterling Perry (SA) won by pin over Caleb Myers (KC) in 2:27
141 – Francisco Bisono (KC) dec. Matt Fletcher (SA) 7-5 in OT
149 – Nicolas Stella (KC) won by inj. default over Greg Todd (SA) in 4:00
157 – John Brasher (KC) maj. dec. Troy Baranik (SA) 9-1
165 – Patrick Spano (KC) won by tech fall over Ranson Lee (SA), 15-0
174 – Jonathan Forbes (KC) dec. Richard Manwarren (SA) 9-6
184 – Brandon Tressler (KC) won by pin over Kevin Hall (SA), :22
197 – Charles Morgan (KC) won by tech fall over Josh Price (SA) 15-0
285 – Dondricus Anderson (KC) won by pin over Justin Hoover (SA), 4:04  

Shippensburg 38, St. Andrews 9
125 – Chris Kochinsky (SU) maj. dec. Eric Brown (SA) 12-3
133 – Sterling Perry (SA) won by forfeit
141 – Simon Rice (SU) won by fall over Matt Fletcher (SA) in 1:23
149 – Devan Jones (SU) maj. dec. Ranson Lee (SA) 13-5
157 – John Linquist (SU) tech falled Troy Baranik (SA) 18-3 in 6:45
165 – Nathan Reese (SU) won by pin over James Green (SA) in 2:23
174 – Richard Manwarren (SA) dec. Zach Hogentogler (SU) 4-2
184 – Tyler Zittle (SU) maj. dec. Kevin Hall (SA) 11-0
197 – Keith Dahlheimer (SU) won by pin over Josh Price (SA) in 6:15
285 – Daniel Estricher (SU) dec. Justin Hoover (SA) 3-2

West Liberty St. 24, St. Andrews 21
125 – Eric Brown (SA) dec. Preston Foster (WL) 13-9
133 – Sterling Perry (SA) dec. Pete McAtee (WL) 9-3
141 – Matt Cunningham (WL) dec. Matt Fletcher (SA) in 1:23
149 – AJ Gavin (WL) maj. dec. Ranson Lee (SA) 12-2
157 – Troy Baranik (SA) won by forfeit
165 – Richard Manwarren (SA) won by DQ over Jarrod Shaw (WL)
174 – Matt Littleton (WL) won by pin over James Green (SA) in 1:10
184 – Derrick Williams (WL) won by pin over Caleb Mitcler (SA) in 2:07
197 – Mitch Knapp (WL) won by pin over Kevin Hall (SA) in 1:35
285 – Justin Hoover (SA) dec. Drake Kowcheck (WL) 3-0

 Seton Hill 36, St. Andrews 15
125 – Kenny Trumbetta (SH) dec. Eric Brown (SA) 6-1
133 – Sterling Perry (SA) won by forfeit
141 – Dallas Evans (SH) won by pin over Patrick Wells (SA) in 4:20
149 – Nick Nichols (SH) won by pin over Matt Fletcher (SA) in 1:30
157 – Tyler Mohlenhrich (SH) won by pin over Troy Baranik (SA) in :55
165 – Randall Wagner (SH) dec. Richard Manwarren (SA) 7-3
174 – Josh Voelker (SH) won by pin over Caleb Mitcler (SA) in 5:34
184 – Dan Matthews (SH) won by pin over James Green (SA) in 1:49
197 – Kevin Hall (SA) won by forfeit
285 – Justin Hoover (SA) dec. Eric Minerd (SH) 4-1