Photo by Greg Reedy
Ridgway's Jeff Slattery takes on Kody Pace of Fort LeBoeuf during the 130-pound bout Friday morning at GIANT Center in Hershey. The Elkers lost to the Bisons and were bumped to the consolation bracket with the 38-22 defeat.

By Greg Reedy
Sports Editor

HERSHEY – Ridgway wrestling will continue in the consolation bracket after splitting a pair of dual meets Friday at the PIAA Team Wrestling Championships in Hershey.
Ridgway wrestling lost its opening match at the PIAA Team Wrestling Championships Friday morning with a 38-22 defeat against Fort LeBoeuf to put the Elkers in the consolation bracket. Ridgway then came back with a 32-27 victory in the first consolation match over Boiling Springs.
Ridgway wrestles at 9 a.m. in round 2 of that bracket against Bedford Saturday.
“We did a different approach,“ Ridgway coach Gary Gerber said. “We shifted around some people in the second match so we could start out with a lead. We started the first match and we got way behind, we just couldn’t get going and get back up. We went out, Garet got us started and Nate Dornisch came up with a big win for us at 145, it really helped us.”
After trailing early in the first meet, Ridgway started quickly against the Bubblers. Garet Pisani scored a solid 4-0 decision over Sam Rhoads in the 140-pound bout. Nate Dornisch then followed with a 5-1 decision over Trent Bond. Bond’s only point was an escape during the first period. Dornisch had a pair of takedowns and one escape.
D.J. Skraba was never seriously challenged in a 14-1 major decision over John Riddle at 152 to put Ridgway up 10-0 in the team competition. Sam Skraba pinned Logan Murphy in 35 seconds to take a 16-0 lead at 160. Zack Zelcs then earned a 9-0 major decision at 171 over Jake Grove. Zelcs earned the extra team point with a takedown just 14 seconds from the finish, propelling the lead from seven to nine.
Chad Quail wrestled at 189 for the Elkers and lost in the last second to Alex Deroba. After a scoreless first period, Deroba escaped to open the second and take a 1-0 advantage. Quail reversed Deroba with 52 seconds left in the third period to take a 2-1 lead. With one second left, Deroba scored the deciding reversal to take a 3-2 decision over Quail. That escape was the first offensive points other than escape for the Bubblers in nearly six whole bouts.
Samuel Matter won a 7-1 decision over Jesse Sheasley of Ridgway at 215. Joe Chittester pinned Tyler Unger at 3:13 and Corey Bush followed with a pin over Andrew Fabo at 2:05 to put the Elkers up 32-6 in the team score. Chittester said after the match that his next win will be his 100th win of his varsity wrestling career.
Boiling Springs began to turn the momentum with a win in the 112-pound bout. Trevor Delhunty of Ridgway took on Mark Lentz of Boiling Springs. The bout was tied at 2-all entering the third period. Lentz escaped to take a 3-2 lead before Delhunty took him down to give Ridgway a 4-3 lead with 19 seconds left. On the ensuing restart, Delhunty committed his third caution which gave Lentz a point and knotted the bout at 4-all and ultimately sending the match to overtime. After a scoreless one-minute overtime, Lentz scored a reversal in the first tiebreaker session to take a 6-4 lead. Lentz then pinned Delhunty in the second 30-second tiebreaker period to take the fall at a time of 6:49 and keep the Bubblers alive in the match at 32-12.
“The young kids did a great job,” Gerber said. “Jesse Sheasley being able to fight off that monster. Chad Quail at 89, what a match he wrestled for us there. Trevor Delhunty, battling for us at 112.”
Roland Miller of Boiling Springs also pulled an overtime bout for the Bubblers at 119 over Slade Horner. A one-minute overtime session was not enough to decide a winner but an escape from the down position by Miller gave the Boiling Springs wrestler a 5-4 decision, keeping the Bubblers alive.
“The kids who had to do the job for us did. Kyle Caggiano not giving up the big points, they did their jobs, Slade Horner, another great job for us,” Gerber said.
Trailing 32-15 with three bouts left, Boiling Springs needed three pins for the outright win. Those chances would be over after the 119-pound bout as Ean Sterner could only muster a 7-2 decision over Kyle Caggiano of Ridgway. Caggiano escaped from what looked like a pinning predicament midway through the second period, an escape which would prove vital in the Elkers securing the team victory.
The decision ended any hope for Boiling Springs. Joe Spisak followed for the Bubblers with a fall over Jeff Slattery at 130 in 54 seconds. Ty Thumma then won a 5-2 decision over Steve Mitchell of Ridgway to close at 135.
Gerber said he was impressed with how the Elkers bounced back.
“Losing the first one, your second match tells you a lot about your kids,“ Gerber said. “They could have just rolled over and they didn’t. They knew we had a real tough match and they knew they (Boiling Springs) were favored in the last five matches. So we knew we had to get a big lead and the kids did that. It really helped us that they could have got the decision there. They needed sixes all through there and we knew they finished with three state-ranked kids at 25, 30 and 35.”
Against Fort LeBoeuf, the dual meet started at 130 with Slattery losing a 3-1decision to Kody Pace of the Bisons. The bout was tied at 1-all in the third period until Pace was able to take down Slattery with 1:13 left to take the deciding lead.
Pisani answered for the Elkers in the 135-pound bout with an 8-0 major decision over Riley Smith of the Bisons. Pisani was dominant during the match and pulled out the extra team point with three back points at the end of the bout to take the 8-0 lead and put Ridgway up 4-3 in the team score.
David Church scored a 16-0 technical fall victory over Mitchell of Ridgway in a time of 5:38 at 140 to put the Bisons up 8-4.
Shawn Stancliff then closed strong to take an 11-4 decision over Dornisch of the Elkers. At the end of the second period, Stancliff led 5-4, but two series of three back points bumped the winning margin to seven.
Jeremy King of Fort LeBoeuf pinned Jake Himes in the 152-pound weight class at a time of 5:45. Himes was able to keep tough with King during the bout until getting caught at the end.
Casey Pace continued the strong wrestling for the Bisons with a 2-0 decision over D.J. Skraba of the Elkers. The only points of the bout came with 31 seconds left in the first period when Pace scored a takedown on Skraba.
The Elkers trailed 20-4 entering the 171-pound bout. Sam Skraba won a 4-3 decision over Craig Cihon. Skraba had a 2-1 lead after the first period, then was able to increase the lead to 4-1 during the second period. Cihon secured a pair of escapes but it was not enough to get the victory for the Bisons.
Zelcs of Ridgway won a 3-0 decision over Lee Zeigler of the Bisons at 189. Brandon Bradney scored a pin over Jesse Sheasley at 215 in a time of 5:19. A closely-contested bout before the fall, Bradney led just 5-4 heading down the stretch of the bout before getting the six team points and putting the Bisons up 26-10.
Chittester pinned Evan Daley at 3:12 in the 285-pound bout, then Bush pinned Jack Middleton at 103 in a time of 40 seconds to close Ridgway within four at 26-22.
Brandon Puckley of Fort LeBoeuf then Trevor Delhunty at 112 in a time of 2:24 to put the Bisons up 32-22 with two bouts left. Taylor Fox won a closely-fought 4-3 decision over Horner of Ridgway in the 119-pound weight class. Mitch Kaltenbaugh closed out at 125 for the Bisons with an 8-5 decision over Caggiano.

Fort LeBoeuf 38, Ridgway 22
130 - Kody Pace (F) dec. Jeff Slattery (Rid), 3-1 (3-0 F)
135 - Garet Pisani (Rid) maj.dec. Riley Smith, 8-0 (4-3 R)
140 - David Church (F) win by tech. fall over Steve Mitchell (Rid), 16-0, 5:38 (8-4 F)
145 - Shawn Stancliff (F) dec. Nate Dornisch (Rid), 11-4 (11-4 F)
152 - Jeremy King (F) pin Jake Himes (Rid), 5:45 (17-4 F)
160 - Casey Pace (F) dec. D.J. Skraba (Rid), 2-0 (20-4 F)
171 - Sam Skraba (Rid) dec. Craig Cihon (F), 4-3 (20-7 F)
189 - Zack Zelcs (Rid) dec. Lee Ziegler (F), 3-0 (20-10 F)
215 - Brandon Bradney (F) pin Jesse Sheasley (Rid), 5:19 (26-10 F)
285 - Joe Chittester (Rid) pin Evan Daley (F), 3:12 (26-16 F)
103 - Corey Bush (Rid) pin Jack Middleton (F), 0:40 (26-22 F)
112 - Brandon Buckley (F) pin Trevor Delhunty (Rid), 2:24 (32-22 F)
119 - Taylor Fox (F) dec. Slade Horner (Rid), 4-3 (35-22 F)
125 - Mitch Kaltenbaugh (F) dec. Kyle Caggiano (Rid), 8-5 (38-22 F)

Ridgway 32, Boiling Springs 27
140 - Garet Pisani (Rid) dec. Sam Rhoads (B), 4-0 (3-0 R)
145 - Nate Dornisch (Rid) dec. Trent Bond (B), 5-1 (6-0 R)
152 - D.J. Skraba (Rid) maj.dec. John Riddle (B), 14-1 (10-0 R)
160 - Sam Skraba (Rid) pin Logan Murphy (B), 0:35 (16-0 R)
171 - Zack Zelcs (Rid) maj.dec. Jake Grove (B), 9-0 (20-0 R)
189 - Alex Deroba (B) dec. Chad Quail (Rid), 3-2 (20-3 R)
215 - Samuel Matter (B) dec. Jesse Sheasley (Rid), 7-1 (20-6 R)
285 - Joe Chittester (Rid) pin Tyler Unger (B), 3:13 (26-6 R)
103 - Corey Bush (Rid) pin Andrew Fabo (B), 2:05 (32-6 R)
112 - Mark Lentz (B) pin Trevor Delahunt (Rid), 6:49 (32-12 R)
119 - Roland Miller (B) dec. Slade Horner (Rid), 5-4, tiebreaker (32-15 R)
125 - Ean Sterner (B) dec. Kyle Caggiano (Rid), 7-2 (32-18 R)
130 - Joe Spisak (B) pin Jeff Slattery (Rid), 0:54 (32-24 R)
135 - Ty Thumma (B) dec. Steve Mitchell (Rid), 5-2 (32-27 R)