Runner-up — a reality check
Connellsville ends Easton’s four-year run, mowing down Nazareth and Red Rovers.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
By BRIAN FORTNER
The Express-Times
HERSHEY, Pa. — The Easton Red Rovers have been down this road before, but have never really faced the pressure of wrestling in the state finals.
For four years running, Easton dominated the field en route to winning four consecutive state dual meet championships. The average final score of those four title matches — 41-16.
It was a matter of time until somebody turned up the heat.
Big-time pressure came Saturday from Connellsville Area High School, which turned one controversial decision and two last-second reversals into a 34-25 victory over Easton and a Class AAA championship before a crowd of 1,643 at the PIAA Team Championships at the Giant Center.
Connellsville (28-3) capped a magical run through the tournament field by winning the final five bouts against Easton to claim its first state team title in school history.
“We’ve watched Easton win this for years and we wanted to be where they were standing, “Connellsville coach Tom Dolde said. “They have an outstanding program and to beat them to win it all is special.”
Easton defeated Connellsville 39-18 in last year’s final.
The Falcons also knocked off Nazareth 35-19 in a semifinal earlier in the day, spoiling an all-District 11 state final.
“You have to give them credit for coming back, “Red Rovers coach Steve Powell said. “We did the best we could do. We’re not the first team to walk out of here with our heads down.”
Easton (19-2), which came here on a 14-match winning streak in state duals competition, built a 25-15 lead after nine bouts when senior Josh Oliver took the mat against state placewinner Steven Bell at 130 pounds.
Oliver was clinging to a 4-3 lead late in the third period when Bell reversed and pinned the returning state runner-up with one second left on the clock, bringing the Falcons to within four points of the lead at 25-21.
Oliver attempted to put a leg ride in on Bell with 14 seconds remaining to secure the decision. Instead, Bell shook Oliver off and onto his back for the go-ahead reversal with four seconds left — and a fall at 5:59.
Connellsville’s Ashtin Primus then tied the score with a 17-5 major decision over Colin Dailey at 135.
Primus had keyed Connellsville’s victory over Nazareth earlier by pinning Blue Eagles’ whiz Tim Darling.
“We put (Easton) in a position where they had to bump up, “Dolde said. “We knew we had the advantage then, especially in the third period.”
Bell’s fall made Easton juggle its lineup, forcing regular 135-pounder Alex Krom up to 140, where he suffered a similar fate as Oliver.
“We figured we needed to win two of the next five bouts going into 130, “Powell said. “When they got six there, we had to make some moves.”
Krom (32-2), who wrestled all weekend with flu-like symptoms, was leading Zach Snyder 3-2 with eight seconds left in the match when he was reversed to his back for a five-point play.
Snyder’s 7-3 decision gave the Falcons a three-point lead with two bouts left. It was Krom’s first loss in 12 bouts of state duals competition.
“It’s a matter of giving up a reversal and quitting versus giving up a reversal and keeping wrestling, “Powell said. “These kids are veteran wrestlers. That’s what separates winning and losing, winning the close matches.”
The match started out innocently enough — Sal Crivellaro giving Easton a 6-0 with his second-period fall of Adam Knepper at 160.
Connellsville’s Jason Doppelheuer got half of that margin back with an 8-3 decision over Dave Crowell at 171.
Then it got interesting.
Red Rovers freshman Cory Rutt took the mat against Alan Porter at 215 and appeared on his way to a dramatic victory that would have given Easton a 9-3 lead.
Match officials nullified Rutt’s last-second takedown and awarded the decision to Porter, tying the match score 6-6.
With Porter clinging to a slim 3-2 lead and the clock winding down, Rutt was awarded a takedown with four seconds left. Time ran out and the Easton bench thought Rutt had a 4-3 win.
Instead, assistant referee Jeff Bell claimed the clock operator failed to start the bout clock on the restart.
After several minutes of deliberation, referee Dave Kruszewski raised Porter’s hand and the scoreboard clock was adjusted.
According to PIAA officials, it’s up to the judgment of the referees as to when the takedown occurred and how much time elapsed before the clock was finally started.
“They said what the two mat officials did was the correct call, “Powell said. “They said the takedown happened with four seconds left and the clock operator held it for five seconds.”
Easton also got falls from talented freshman Jordan Oliver at 103 and unbeaten senior Seth Ciasulli at 125.
Oliver pinned Tyler Nicholson in 1:22 to give Easton a 16-12 lead after six bouts.
Three bouts later, Ciasulli (35-0) gave the Red Rovers a 25-15 lead when he flattened Mike Zavada in 2:41 of the second period.
“This is as ugly a loss as these kids could go through, “Powell said. “It’s toughest on the seniors, who’ve been on the other side their whole high school career. But there’s still a lot of wrestling between now and the end of the season.”
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