HS Wrestling: Blue Mountain turns back Tamaqua
Blue Mountain's David Renninger (285) cradles Tamaqua's Angelo Cerimele for the fall during Wednesday night's dual meet. The Eagles defeated the Blue Raiders 51-17. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)
TAMAQUA — Blue Mountain’s Owen Woll and Tamaqua’s Aiden Schlier moved one step closer to a major milestone.
The Eagles’ Bradley Renninger added another victory as he climbs the ladder of the long list of greats to come through Blue Mountain’s wrestling room.
Falls by Woll and Renninger sparked the Eagles to a 51-17 victory over Tamaqua on Wednesday night in a Schuylkill League Division I dual meet at the Tamaqua Area Athletic Center. David Renninger (285), Brian Brobst (133) and Thomas Herring (145) added pins for Blue Mountain (12-6, 3-1 D-I), which took 10-of-13 weights.
About two weeks ago, Renninger became the first Schuylkill Leaguer to reach the 100-win mark this season. Renninger (28-4) hasn’t stopped winning since, raising his career record to 107-49. He had to work hard for No. 107 as Tamaqua’s Jacob Hehn scored the first takedown and led 3-2 after the first period. Renninger, though, reversed Hehn to his back in the second period and pinned him at 2:40.
The senior 189-pounder joined the likes of Corey Keener, Josh Kindig, Tyler Rauenzahn and many others in Blue Mountain’s 100-win club.
“I didn’t really expect to get there my freshman year, but hard work can do anything,” said Renninger, who had just 11 wins as a ninth-grader. “I thank God, and my hard work shows on the mat now. … It’s an honor, it really is.”
Added Blue Mountain coach Alex Gosch about Renninger: “I think he knows how to use his body structure. I think he, over the years, has gotten better at riding legs and applying the leverage that he has. Everything’s just finally coming together. He’s a workhorse. He always shows up for practice. He does the right things. He’s a multi-sport athlete, and he manages to balance and juggle all those things. Everything is coming together, and it’s awesome to see in his senior year. It’s been a long time in the making.”
While Renninger reached the century mark, Woll and Schlier are fast approaching their moment to join him.
Woll, a junior 152-pounder, racked up five takedowns before scoring the fall in 2:52 over Chase Zeigenfuss. Woll improved to 26-3 on the season and 97-25 heading into the Schuylkill League Wrestling Championships on Saturday in Blue Mountain’s gym.
“I’m very proud of him,” Gosch said of Woll. “He’s another kid who is a workhorse and doing all the right things. Luckily, we have captains and leaders in the room this year that are leading by example and wrestling in the offseason. That’s all that you can ask for. You see the other kids look up to them and see what that hard work, what the success looks like.”
Schlier, meanwhile, has been a consistent winner for the Blue Raiders. In his 127-pound bout, Schlier needed just 1:06 to rack up a 15-0 technical fall over Troy Mady. Schlier (21-4) scored a quick takedown, then added three sets of four-point near falls to end the match. Schlier improved to 96-37 for his career.
“I think he’s matured so much over the last four years,” Tamaqua coach Jim McCabe said. “He certainly has become a leader in the wrestling room by what he does. I think he’s working extremely hard, harder than he’s ever worked at any opportunity in the wrestling room. Our philosophy is that we don’t focus on the outcome. We’re aware of that, and I know everybody else is aware of it. Other people talk about it, and it’s an important milestone in a wrestler’s career, but we really want to focus on what we need to do in the practice room. That stuff will happen when we do what we need to do in the practice room.”
In addition to the five pinners, Blue Mountain took all of the toss-up bouts.
At 139, Bryce Bodenberg made a first-period takedown stand up in a 3-1 decision over Brody Boyce. Preston Whalen (160) used three takedowns and escapes at the end of the first and second periods to outslug Jonathan Knepper 12-10. And at 172, the Eagles’ Hunter Blankenhorn got a stalling point and an escape in the final seconds to edge Bradley Whalen 2-1.
Tamaqua (6-10, 1-2) also got an 18-second fall from Levi Kunkel (121).
