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Ritter’s win at 100 sets tone for Hughesville as Spartans beat Williamsport in girls wrestling

Julia Ritter of Hughesville wins her match at 100 pounds against Danica Bacorn of Williamsport at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Hughesville’s Julia Ritter never stopped battling during her bout against Williamsport’s Danica Bacorn. The Spartan trailed 1-0 after two periods and knew that points would be hard to come by. The two wrestled earlier this season in which Bacorn beat the Spartan by decision, 6-2.

Ritter was going to assure a repeat wouldn’t happen in Round 2.

In the third period, Ritter wrapped her legs around Bacorn and tried to turn her, and managed to get a key point to force overtime and after the 30-second overtime periods, Ritter was the one with her hand raised.

The 2-1 decision win by Ritter helped set the tone early for Hughesville as the Spartans defeated Williamsport, 55-17, in a dual at the Magic Dome on Tuesday evening.

“Julia and Danica, they’ve wrestled several times so they’re very familiar with each other. It’s always been a tough match. Danica got her earlier this season, so it’s a little revenge for her,” Hughesville coach Royce Eyer said. “We’re going to have to get her in the postseason again for sure, so we’re going to have to keep grinding and try to get more offensive on our end for sure.”

Julia Ritter of Hughesville wins her match at 100 pounds against Danica Bacorn of Williamsport at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Both Ritter and Bacorn fought each other off in the first period from a standing position, neither allowing the other to get an offensive move to score a point. In the second period, it was Bacorn who escaped Ritter early for a 1-0 lead. Ritter went low against Bacorn, but the Millionaire was able to quickly counter to prevent Ritter from scoring.

“I think both of their styles when they match up with each other kind of look like that,” Williamsport coach Kevin Werner said. “Both of them wrestled a strategic match I think and it just didn’t work out for us in the end.”

Bacorn was able to get control of Ritter on top in the closing seconds of the second period, but both went off the mat to stop the action, preventing any additional points for Bacorn.

That opening match at 100 was one of four between the two schools that went into the third period.

After a forfeit win at 106 for Hughesville and a pin by returning regional qualifier Ariahna Moore in 68 seconds at 112, Hughesville’s Leah Lehman matched up against No. 2-ranked Lillian Rumsey at 118.

Ariahna Moore of Hughesville pins Ariana Geasey of Williamsport during their match at 112 pounds at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Rumsey, a third-place medalist at last year’s state tournament, was aggressive the entire match, opening up right away with offense and built a 3-0 lead fast before taking a 6-1 lead to close out the first period of action. Lehman knew against Rumsey she would be in for a tough contest, but managed to go all three periods with Rumsey before losing with 1:36 left in the third via tech fall, 21-5.

“Leah’s battled, she’s a warrior. She stepped up,” Eyer said. “She just started making 120, she’s a strong girl and she’ll do well in the postseason and she’s tough. She fought for everything so I’m happy with how she wrestled.”

Williamsport picked up back-to-back wins at 118 and 124. Following Rumsey’s dominating victory, Mykia Petruskevich battled Hughesville’s Deja Roark in a matchup of two returning regional qualifiers from last winter.

After a scoreless first period, Roark was able to get Petruskevich down and tried to turn her, but the Millionaire battled back and was able to counter with a flip from her back to get in control. From there, Petruskevich accumulated five points for a 5-0 lead going into the third period.

“Her style is different from match to match depending on who she’s going to wrestle, so she’s a hard one to game plan for. In this match, the girl was very aggressive with her, lot of head grinding, I think trying to use that to get into her head a little,” Werner said. “She handled that well. She didn’t get angry or upset and she stayed in good position and wrestled through it and exploded when she needed to and finished on top.”

Ariahna Moore of Hughesville and Ariana Geasey of Williamsport shake hands after their match at 112 pounds at Williamsport High School. Moore won the match. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

In the third period, Petruskevich was able to finally get Roark in position for a fall, doing so with 47.5 seconds remaining in the bout.

“I can’t explain to you about her style because her style does change according to talent she’s wrestling,” Werner said of how Petruskevich wrestles.

Rumsey’s and Petruskevich’s wins were the only two victories until Williamsport’s Mia Davis secured a second-period fall with 19.7 seconds remaining against Hughesville’s Michayla Applegate at 190.

While the Millionaires lost the dual from a team perspective, Werner was still more than happy with the individual performances throughout his lineup.

“I’m pleased with them. I think we have four girls on our varsity team that have experience prior to this year. So everybody else is fairly new and I’ve seen some great strides in them to this point,” Werner said. “I’m happy with their performance, especially against a tough team that seems they’re turning out to be a perennial powerhouse in the area. We were happy with our performance against Hughesville.”

Lillian Rumsey of Williamsport controls the action as she wrestles Leah Lehman of Hughesville at Williamsport High School. Rumsey won the match at 118 pounds. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Hughesville saw Avery Puderbach secure a pin in 1:36 over Emma Schell at 130 and at 136, Hughesville’s Abbi Bowman had a hard-fought 15-3 major decision win over Lea Borchardt.

Bowman led 3-0 in the first period and scored 12 points in the second period alone as she kept being aggressive over Borchardt and accumulating points in any way she could. Bowman rode out on top the final minute of the third period to secure the 15-3 major decision win.

Hughesville secured four wins through 112 and 136, the only loss coming to state-ranked Rumsey.

“Every one of them means a ton for this team,” Royce said of Moore, Lehman, Roark, Puderbach and Bowman. “We have a lot of tough girls all the way up, there’s five, six, seven in a row. It’s pretty nice for us. They grind on each other every day in practice, so it’s nice for them to wrestle other people than each other.”

Hughesville 55, Williamsport 17

Lillian Rumsey of Williamsport controls the action as she wrestles Leah Lehman of Hughesville at Williamsport High School. Rumsey won the match at 118 pounds. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

100: Julia Ritter (H) dec. Danica Bacorn, 2-1 UTB. 116: Bella Olshefskie (H) by forfeit. 112: Ariahna Moore (H) pinned Ariana Geasey 1:08. 118: Lillian Rumsey (W) tech fall Leah Lehman, 21-5, 4:24. 124: Mykia Petruskevich (W) pinned Deja Roark 5:13. 130: Avery Puderbach (H) pinned Emma Schell, 1:36. 136: Abbi Bowman (H) maj. dec. Lea Borchardt, 15-3. 142: Avery Earnest (H) by forfeit. 148: Alaina Hicks (H) by forfeit. 155: Alexis Kurzawa (H) pinned McKylee Vollman, 0:54. 170: Caroline Hicks (H) pinned Rosalie Trimble, 2:48. 190: Mia Davis (W) pinned Michayla Applegate, 3:41. 235: Jatiah Peterkin (H) pinned Payton Pepperman, 0:11.

Records: Hughesville (6-0), Williamsport (6-4). Next matches; Shikellamy at Hughesville, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 7 p.m.; Williamsport at Bald Eagle Area Tournament, Saturday, 9 a.m.

Lillian Rumsey of Williamsport controls the action as she wrestles Leah Lehman of Hughesville at Williamsport High School. Rumsey won the match at 118 pounds. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Lillian Rumsey of Williamsport controls the action as she wrestles Leah Lehman of Hughesville at Williamsport High School. Rumsey won the match at 118 pounds. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Lillian Rumsey of Williamsport controls the action as she wrestles Leah Lehman of Hughesville at Williamsport High School. Rumsey won the match at 118 pounds. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Deja Roark of Hughesville tries to defend as Mykia Petruskevich of Williamsport tries to get the reversal during their match at 124 pounds at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Deja Roark of Hughesville covers her eyes with her hands after she loses to Mykia Petruskevich of Williamsport as Petruskevich tries to shake her hand during their match at 124 pounds at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Avery Puderbach of Hughesville looks to score points on Emma Schell of Williamsport during their match at 130 pounds at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Abbi Bowman of Hughesville takes Lea Borchardt of Williamsport to the mat during their match at 136 pounds at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Abbi Bowman of Hughesville controls the action in her match against Lea Borchardt of Williamsport during their match at 136 pounds at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Abbi Bowman of Hughesville wins her match against Lea Borchardt of Williamsport during their match at 136 pounds at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Alexis Kurawa of Hughesville takes down McKylee Vollman of Williamsport during their match at 155 pounds at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Caroline Hicks of Hughesville and Rosalie Trimble of Williamsport try to win the hand fight during their match at 170 pounds at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Michayla Applegate of Hughesville and Mia Davis of Williamsport wrestle at 190 pounds at Williamsport High School. Davis won the match. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Jatiah Peterkin of Hughesville wins her match with a pin against Payton Pepperman of Williamsport at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Hughesville wrestlers celebrate their win at 235 pounds and their match win over Williamsport at Williamsport High School. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

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