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Lewisburg beats Warrior Run in wrestling

TURBOTVILLE — Jim Snyder estimates that 70 percent of Lewisburg’s practices involve his wrestlers working on their feet. It’s a plan which works for multiple reasons for the Green Dragons.

First, it allows Lewisburg to further perfect an area which is a strength for its lineup.

Second, it forces the kids to be in great condition, as opposed to mat wrestling where it’s easier to take quick breaks.

Third, it leads to a bunch of points in competition.

Tuesday night, Lewisburg posted a 3-to-1 advantage in takedowns against Warrior Run in a 56-15 victory over the Defenders. The Green Dragons recorded 26 takedowns to Warrior Run’s seven. That coming less than a week after posting a 17-9 advantage over Montoursville in a key dual-meet win.

“It’s something we coach, teach and practice,” Snyder said. “Some of the guys are not great mat wrestlers. So you go where you’re strong and they’re really coming on.”

But it’s not just about the coaching staff, especially assistant coach Justin Michaels, drilling the importance of working on their feet into the kids. Throughout the lineup, Lewisburg wrestlers have found a confidence to fire off shots and try to score points.

Their biggest asset may be their willingness to pull the trigger on a shot even if it means it doesn’t work and they end up getting taken down themselves. Six of the Green Dragons’ 11 winners last night recorded multiple takedowns. And it likely would have been more had not Austin Ruhl, Roman Aksenov, Dakotah Snyder, Grant Adams and Kaiden Wagner turned their first and only takedowns into falls.

“This sport is so much about ‘am I going to pull the trigger?'” Snyder said. “For a lot of the guys, there is no choosing bottom. Some of the guys have no problem, but with half of them, why do it when we can go neutral and score?”

Living up to his word, the Green Dragons had choice in eight bouts last night. In four of them their wrestlers chose bottom, in the other four they chose neutral. In all four instances where Lewisburg chose neutral, it recorded a takedown in the period.

From there, Lewisburg has been punishing on top. It ran off five consecutive falls for the second consecutive match, this time it came after Warrior Run got within 14-9 with a fall from David Gearhart at 182 pounds. But then Aksenov needed just 34 seconds for a fall. Snyder needed 57 seconds and Adams just 52. Wagner scored his fall in 1:27, and Thomas Lyons followed with a second-period fall.

The Green Dragons had seven falls last night.

“We’ve had two straight matches with five pins in a row and we’re starting to feed off each other like coach always tells us to,” Adams said. “I think as a team we believe in ourselves and we believe we’re working just as hard as everyone else, if not harder, and we’re prepared for everyone.”

Lewisburg has three days to prepare for its final test before next week’s District 4 Duals. The Green Dragons face Central Columbia, Hughesville and Mount Carmel on Saturday in a quad meet at Central Columbia. The four teams have combined for 46 wins this season, with each team winning at least 11 matches.

The results of the day will be important for seeding in next week’s district team tournament. After last night’s results, Mount Carmel enters the weekend as the fifth seed, Central the eighth, Lewisburg the 12th and Hughesville the 15th.

“I told these guys that we can go 3-0 on Saturday, but we can go 0-3 too,” Snyder said. “You hope to get going early in the day because I think it’s going to matter. It’s going to be a good day that will get us ready for next Wednesday.”

Lewisburg 56, Warrior Run 15

145: Austin Ruhl, L, pinned Damein Moser, 1:29. 152: Broghan Persun, L, maj. dec. Taylor Wise, 15-3. 160: Sam Crawford, WR, dec. Ricky Ahir, 9-5. 170: Ronnie Lentz, L, maj. dec. Jackson Welliver, 13-3. 182: David Gearhart, WR, pinned Aaron Strosser, 4:41. 195: Roman Aksenov, L, pinned Hoyt Bower, 0:34. 220: Dakotah Snyder, L, pinned Austin Witmer, 0:57. 285: Grant Adams, L, pinned Caleb Long, 0:52. 106: Kaiden Wagner, L, pinned Kaden Majcher, 1:27. 113: Thomas Lyons, L, pinned Landan Kurtz, 2:45. 120: Noah Hunt, WR, pinned Ethan Daniels, 0:45. 126: Cole Temple, L, pinned Jaiden Hanford, 5:33. 132: Justin Gessner, L, dec. Logan Witmer, 8-1. 138: Logan Bartlett, L, dec. Nathan Michael, 3-2.

Takedowns: Lewisburg 26, Warrior Run 7. Records: Lewisburg (12-7); Warrior Run (4-8).

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