The Golden Ram wrestling team is on a season high, especially after their nail biting victory over Williamson Trade School last Wednesday night.In a home meet that came down to the meet’s final match, West Chester’s 184-pound wrestler Abe Brooks took the decision to give WCU the final, 26-21.
Brandon Banks led off the bout strongly for West Chester, as he recorded a fall in the second period. It was Banks’ sixth pin of the season.
Williamson Trade tied it up after a forfeit at 235 pounds, and Brian Nicholson gave West Chester the lead again with a major decision. Williamson Trade then came back to take the lead, as they scored three wins in a row.
With five matches left in the meet, West Chester found themselves down 18-10. The heart of the lineup was up for the Golden Rams, and as usual, they came through. Cody Carrigan was the next up at 149 pounds, as he closed the gap to 18-14 with a major decision.
Dillon Evans gave West Chester the lead again with an early first period fall.
The next match was the greatest match of the evening. Dustin ‘Tank’ Tancredi met one of his toughest, if not the toughest, opponent yet this season. After the three period regulation, Tancredi and his opponent were locked up in a 1-1 tie.
The duo traded escapes in the upcoming overtime periods, making the score 3-3 after five overtimes. Finally, in the match’s sixth overtime, Tank scored the deciding point with his 18 seconds of riding time, giving West Chester a 23-18 meet lead.
After Ryan Rozniakowski fell at 174 pounds, the score was 23-21 going into the final match. That is when Brooks sealed the deal, sending a shock through the gym as West Chester went to 15-3 on the season, an impressive record, especially being only the team’s second season together.
The weekend before, West Chester University also competed in one more match in the dual weekend. That match was against the University of Central Florida, where the Golden Rams suffered only their third loss of the season in a hard fought 30-21 meet.
West Chester started off in the hole, as the first two matches resulted in a decision and pin for Central Florida. WCU’s always-strong middle of the lineup came on strong once again as they always do after that.
Steven Armour and Tancredi each recorded pins. Kevin Bacci won a 7-2 match at 174, and Evans made quick work of his opponent with a pin only 26 seconds into the match. After seven matches, West Chester was up 21-15.
That was the end of the scoring for the Golden Rams. In an unfortunate turn of events, the next four matches went to Central Florida, giving them the final nine point victory.
West Chester is now in the process of preparing for the upcoming States and Nationals tournaments. There are many members of the team who have huge potential to go far into the postseason, and could possibly bring home individual championships.
Ryan Frisco is a third-year student majoring in Communication studies. He can be reached at RF648257@wcupa.edu.