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By SCOTT FERTAL; Times Leader Sports Correspondent
Sunday, February 07, 1999 Page:
BERWICK- The prospects of a fifth consecutive Wyoming Valley Conference
West Division title appeared bleak for the Lake-Lehman wrestling team back
December.
A 20-point loss to Meyers and a rash of injuries throughout the lineup made
the Black Knights a struggling squad in the early going. The Knights were just
trying to survive, and a championship was the last thing on their agenda.
Yet, with just one more divisional meet remaining, the Black Knights
already have a share of the crown.
The Black Knights and Berwick battled to a 28-28 tie in a battle of WVC
West unbeatens Saturday night at Berwick High School, but the Knights were
awarded the victory by criteria. When a match ends in a tie, the team that
wins more of the 13 bouts is awarded victory in the meet.
“What a match,” said Lake-Lehman co-coach Phil Lipski. “This was just an
unbelievable win.”
“This was a total team effort,” said Lehman co-coach Tom Williams. “We
couldn’t have won if we didn’t win the seven. We’re lucky to escape from this
one.”
The most pivotal match of the meet came at 171 pounds between Lake-Lehman’s
Rick Hislop and Berwick’s Morris Clark with the Knights clinging to a 25-19
lead.
Hislop and Clark both wrestled cautiously and finished the six-minute
regulation period in a 1-1 tie. Nothing was settled in the two-minute overtime
session, either, as neither wrestler could score.
So the match came down to a 30 second rideout, with Clark winning the coin
flip and selecting the bottom position. If Clark could escape, he would win
the match.
Hislop would have none of that, however, holding Clark in check for the 30
seconds to secure a huge win for the Knights. Hislop’s decision was Lehman’s
seventh win of the meet, which in turn, gave the Knights victory in the meet.
“That match at 171 was crucial,” Lipski said. “If we don’t win that one, we
don’t win this meet.”
Berwick won the next two bouts on Gary Mensinger’s pin at 189 and John
Ohl’s 7-5 decision at 275 to finish the meet tied at 28.
“This is a real disappointing way to lose,” Berwick coach Ernie Yates said.
“There were a couple of key bouts we thought we needed to win, but we didn’t
win any of them. Both teams wrestled extremely well and I give Lake-Lehman a
lot of credit.”
The Knights (5-0 in WVC West, 8-1 overall) started strongly by winning the
first four matches for a 16-3 lead. Among those wins was a 13-3 major decision
by Nick Raczkowski at 112, his 100th career victory.
“It feels really great,” Raczkowski said of his milestone. “There’s not too
many wrestlers that have 100 wins at Lake-Lehman, so this is special.”
The Dawgs (5-1, 7-2) answered with when Mark Fisher scored a 4-2 decision
at 130 and Justin Bohl registered a pin at 135 to close the gap to 16-9.
Lehman increased its lead on a decision by Sam Saylor at 140 and a pin from
Justin Harris at 145.
Lehman can win its fifth consecutive WVC West title on Wednesday at Wyoming
Valley West. If Valley West wins, Lehman, Valley West and Berwick will finish
in a three-way tie for the title.
“We’re at least guaranteed a piece of the pie,” Lipski said. “Now, all we
need is one more for the whole thing.”
103- Aaron Kubasik (LL) dec. Nick Whitenight, 9-6. 112- Nick Raczkowski
(LL) maj. dec. Rob Longenberger, 13-3. 119- Jason Maciejczak (LL) pinned Nick
Wilkins, 3:09. 125- Jim Higgins (LL) dec. Tim Hinkle, 6-3. 130- Mark Fisher
(Ber) dec. Matt Magee, 4-2. 135- Justin Bohl (Ber) pinned Ryan McDade, 1:32.
140- Sam Saylor (LL) dec. Chris Luton, 10-6. 145- Justin Harris (LL) pinned
Bernie Ciampi, 1:27. 152- Paul Ervin (Ber) maj. dec. Rich Maciejczak, 11-2.
160- John Lechleitner (Ber) pinned Dave Delong, 5:06. 171- Rick Hislop (LL)
dec. Morris Clark, 1-1 (rideout). 189- Gary Mensinger (Ber) pinned Seth Moyer,
:53. 275- John Ohl (Ber) dec. Matt Kehler, 7-5 OT.