In its last home meet of the season, Bradford High got enough forfeits to top visiting Cameron County, 35-18, in Allegheny Mountain Wrestling League action on Thursday night in the Owls’ Nest.
The Owls and Red Raiders split winners in the six matches contested, but Bradford (4-6, 3-2 AMWL) picked up points on three forfeits.
“We had some little mistakes that we shouldn’t have had tonight,” Bradford head coach Jamey Miller said, “which I’m sure coach (Mark) Havers said, ‘We’re going to have a team meeting right at the moment.’ As soon as he said that, I fired off a couple of things. He said, ‘Yeah, yeah. That’s on the list.’”
The Owls have a quick turnaround, heading to North East for a two-day tournament starting today and continuing Saturday.
“I’m sure the guys will correct them in their own head overnight,” Miller said. “That way they’re ready to go for the North East tournament.”
The meet started at 145 pounds and the first match was contested at 152 pounds, where Cameron County’s Ethan Vislay earned a hard-fought 6-3 victory over Jaron Ambrose. Derek Sunafrank got the first pin of the night at 160, beating Joshua Summers in 3:13.
At 170, Cameron County’s Caleb Pifer pinned Kholton Fuller in the second period after leading 4-1.
Miller was pleased with the efforts of Ambrose and Fuller for the Owls.
“Kholton Fuller is fairly inexperienced kid, but he hung in there tough,” Miller said. “There were a couple of times that I thought he might pull it out.
“Ethan (Vislay) is absolutely no slouch by any means and Jaron hung in there tough with him. I was kind of hoping for a win out of him tonight, but the fact that he only gave up three points against him is a plus.”
The Owls’ Colby Keane and Tyler Thompson picked up quick wins at 132 and 138 pounds, respectively. Keane took an 18-3 technical fall decision against Ethan Fields, while Thompson put some moves together before pinning Albert Haynes in the first period.
With the victories, Keane moves to 17-5 on the year, while Thompson is 19-4. Hunter Gray (195) and Austin McCracken (220) picked up forfeit wins for the Owls, while Brady Thompson had the lone Cameron County forfeit at 285 pounds.
No matches were contested at 106, 113, 120 or 126 pounds.
Without many numbers on either roster, Miller tried to arrange his lineup to guarantee a solid match.
“Everything is about matchups,” Miller said. “Obviously, this year with the dual meet being what it is and giving up as many points, we’ve been trying to focus on the individuals and trying to get them the best match as possible. We didn’t have to slide up, but that’s why we did to get the better matchups and make sure everyone was wrestling.”
While the Owls are in North East, Cameron County (1-4, 1-3 AMWL) is idle until next Thursday when it hosts Sheffield.
Bradford 35, Cameron County 18
106 – No match
113 – No match
120 – No match
126 – No match
132 – Colby Keane (B) technical pinned Ethan Fields, 18-3
138 – Tyler Thompson (B) pinned Albert Haynes, 1:11
145 – Kyle Hartman (B) won by forfeit
152 – Ethan Vislay (CC) defeated Jaron Ambrose, 6-3
160 – Derek Sunafrank (B) pinned Joshua Summers, 3:13
170 – Caleb Pifer (CC) pinned Kholton Fuller, 3:11
182 – Jared Whiting defeated Chance McGuire, 5-3
195 – Hunter Gray (B) won by forfeit
220 – Austin McCracken (B) won by forfeit
HWT – Brady Thompson (CC) won by forfeit
