Wrestling: Downingtown East sprints away from Avon Grove

By BILL RUDICK, brudick55@gmail.com

LIONVILLE — The final result doesn’t tell the whole story of the Ches-Mont League National Division matchup between Avon Grove and Downingtown East on Wednesday night. Yes, the score of 50-15 shows an easy win on the scoreboard for the Cougars, but the dual meet had more than its fair share of hotly contested individual bouts.

“There were some great bouts tonight,’ said Downingtown East coach Joe Horvath. “I was really impressed with Avon Grove’s ability to defend and with the way they battled over there. We had to work for everything we got. We can wrestle better and we’ll need to wrestle better in the coming weeks, but this was a good league win under our belts.’

It’s still a young Avon Grove squad, but one that is improving every time they step out on the mat.

“We knew coming in what we were up against,’ said Avon Grove coach Frank McCue. “Downingtown East is tough. We just wanted to come in and give everything we had and fight to the end, and I think we did that. I’m really proud of the effort we gave here tonight.’The Cougars (2-0) kicked the meet off with three straight wins, beginning at 195 pounds. Adam Pleines got things going with a major decision and Jake Valencort followed with a 5-0 win over Josh Walls at 220. Sean Snodgrass made it 13-0 with a pin in 1:32 at 285.The next bout featured two of the better 106-pounders in the Ches-Mont in East’s Jake Strommer and Avon Grove’s Kevin Edwards. Leading 12-7 in the third, Edwards picked up a reversal with a chin whip and pinned Strommer at the 4:20 mark.Following an Edgar Garcia pin for the Red Devils (0-2) at 113 cut the lead to 13-12, East went on an eight-match winning streak. Jude McDowell (120), Wade Cummings (126), Austin Lillis (138), and Alec Horne (160) all picked up falls. Jared Leonetti (132) won by major, while James Meyer (152) and Christian Jarani (170) were winners by decision.
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It took an extra period to determine a winner at 145, where East’s Matt Fischer tangled with Garrett Compton. Fischer got in deep on multiple shots in the first period, but Compton was able to scramble out and avoid the takedown.

Still scoreless with time ticking down in the second, Fischer finally got on the board with an escaped with barely a second left in the period.

Compton took down to start the third, and took the lead with a reversal. Just moments later, Fischer hit a Granby roll for an escape to tie it up at one apiece, sending the match into overtime.

In the extra session, Compton came close to a score, but the action went out of bounds. Fischer took a shot right off the restart and earned the winning takedown in sudden victory.

“By that point, we were both tired,’ said Fischer. “I just felt like I had a little more left and knew I had to keep pushing. I just went heavy on his head and went for the sweep single and fought until I got it.’

After coming so close on takedowns and coming short, the win was a relief.

“I was getting a little frustrated with him early in that match when he just didn’t seem like he could finish,’ said Horvath. “But he persevered and got it done. It’s just a tribute to all his hard work and conditioning.’

Avon Grove closed out the night with a win at 182, as Caleb Edwards worked a dump for a first-period takedown, added an escape and held off an aggressive James Gibson the rest of the way for a 3-0 decision.

Downingtown East 50 Avon Grove 15

195— Pleines (DE) maj. dec. Hoffman, 9-1 (4-0)

220— Valencort (DE) dec. J. Walls, 5-0 (7-0)

285— Snodgrass (DE) pinned V. Walls, 1:32 (13-0)

106— K. Edwards (AG) pinned Strommer, 4:20 (13-6)

113— Garcia (AG) pinned Zimmerman 1:08 (13-12)

120— McDowell (DE) pinned Zamudio, 1:51 (19-12)

126— Cummings (DE) pinned Bradley, :16 (25-12)

132— Leonetti (DE) maj. dec. Ortiz, 10-1 (29-12)

138— Lillis (DE) pinned Willis, 4:57 (35-12)

145— Fischer (DE) dec. Compton, 4-2 SV (38-12)

152— Meyer (DE) dec. Swank, 8-4 (41-12)