Mikel Roman, top, looks to turn over Wyoming Area’s Chase Wilhem at 114 pounds. Roman defeated Wilhem 4-2 for a key early decision on Wednesday night.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
At 107 pounds, David Krantz, right, has control over his Wyoming Area opponent, Tyler Randazzo. Krantz defeated Randazzo by technical fall.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
YATESVILLE — The Pittston Area wrestling team was simply too strong for rival Wyoming Area in Wednesday night’s Battle of the Bridge.
By the time the Patriots allowed the Warriors to score a team point, they had already secured the victory, their 19th in 25 matches.
Host Pittston Area won the first eight bouts and scored the first 41 points in a 59-12 victory in its final dual meet competition of the season.
The Patriots dominated most bouts, but they also got a clutch early win from Mikel Roman to prevent the Warriors from gaining any momentum.
Between an opening technical fall from David Krantz at 107 and a 41-second pin by Tim Riefler at 121, Roman gutted out a 4-2 victory over Chase Wilhelm.
The difference was the 114-pound bout’s only takedown, scored by Roman to break a 1-1 tie with 1:33 left in the second period. Otherwise, each wrestler picked up a penalty point and Wilhelm managed one escape.
“He’s a good wrestler,” Patriots coach Dave Krantz said of Wilhelm, who is second on the Warriors with 22 wins. “Mikel wrestled really well; really tough.
“He never stopped.”
Krantz’s son opened with a shutout and the clinching points in his technical fall came on a takedown 17 seconds into the second period against Tyler Randazzo, who leads the Warriors with 24 wins.
Tibor Toth was even quicker in registering his technical fall at 127 and Jahiem Butler, one of the seniors in his final home match, followed with another pin in under a minute.
At that stage, bonus points were no longer at a premium, but Damien Hernandez added one anyway on a takedown with one second left to pump his decision up to a major with a 13-4 victory at 139.
The outcome was then decided by the combination of a Chase Baron pin at 145 and a forfeit.
Michael Appel was the only winner on the mat for Wyoming Area, which also picked up a forfeit.
Pittston Area added to its margin with two more first-period pins by Donnell Williams and Brody Spindler at 189 and 215.
Pittston Area 59, Wyoming Area 12
107: David Krantz (PA) tech. fall over Tyler Randazzo, 15-0, 2:17. 114: Mikel Roman (PA) dec. Chase Wilhelm, 4-2. 121: Tim Riefler (PA) pinned Evan Lark, 0:41. 127: Tibor Toth (PA) tech. fall over Emerson Langdon, 17-2, 1:31. 133: Jahiem Butler (PA) pinned Damon Swartwood, 0:51. 139: Damien Hernandez (PA) dec. Lincoln Smith, 14-4. 145: Chase Baron (PA) pinned Tyler Smith, 2:53. 152: Ethan Aftewicz (PA) by forfeit. 160: Michael Appel (WA) pinned Johanzel Mendez, 5:15. 172: Riley Pierce (WA) by forfeit. 189: Donnell Williams (PA) pinned Justus Reid, 1:01. 215: Brody Spindler (PA) pinned Caden Reynolds, 1:56. 285: Noah Gruber (PA) by forfeit.
