Tigers stay unbeaten in CL
The past 48 hours have been a thing of excitement for the Northwestern wrestling program.
Prior to Northwestern's 44-27 victory over Pen Argyl on Wednesday night, Tiger alum Scott Clymer was inducted into the Northwestern Lehigh Wrestling Booster Club Hall of Fame. Clymer, a 2007 graduate, finished his career with 152 wins (second all-time) and a 2006 state championship.Roughly 24 hours later, the Tigers were back on the mat looking to carry that excitement against Salisbury. And there was little doubt the Tigers would do so.Northwestern (8-4 overall; 4-0 in Colonial League) got pins from eight different Tigers in downing the Falcons (0-4 overall; 0-4 in Colonial League), 64-12 on Thursday night at Northwestern High School."Our guys wrestled good both nights," head coach Jim Moll said. "That's all we really askcome out and wrestle well."The Tigers are just a year removed from posting one-win conference record. Not only have they quadrupled last year's league win total, they haven't been close to experiencing a league loss thus far."Our freshmen and sophomores have stepped up so far this year," Moll said. "That makes a big difference. We have more guys that step up on a daily basis""We've always had the potential to be a great team, but we never had the full lineup," said Jacob Murray, who capped off the Salisbury match with a pin at 285. "This year it all fell into place for us."After Matt Peters opened up the match with a fall late in the first period, and Baily Wehr captured a forfeit, Salisbury's Zach Adams secured one of just two Falcon victories via a pin over Matt Shetayh.After that, it was all Northwestern.The trio of Jarett White (126), Dalton Webster (132) and David VanBlargan (138) all secured falls to give Northwestern a 30-6 advantage. Caleb Clymer then earned a hard-fought major decision over Nico Scarcia, one of the Falcons' top wrestlers, to push it to 34-6."Clymer wrestled well," Moll said. "That kid [Scarcia] was tough. Anthony Fillis did a good job tonight. It was scoreless through the first period. He pushed the action, got a stalling call, and capitalized on some mistakes in the second period and got a fall."Fillis (182), Alex Russo (195), Quin Moyer (220) and Murray (285) all earned pins to end match, but none were more impressive than Murray's.Taking on Salisbury's Alex Nicholas at heavyweight, Murray fell behind 0-2 in the first period before making his move.Nicholas earned a takedown early in the second period, but Murray was there to counter into a reversal. That switch had Nicholas fighting on his back, and a few seconds later Murray cemented the eighth and final fall for the Tigers."They were sort of doubting me a little bit," Murray said of his teammates. "They just told me to stay out of the tie-ups."I was really surprised because I threw that roll, and I was right there for the pin."Moll was equally impressed with Murray's performance."I told him [Murray] last night that he was the most impressive wrestler on our team," Moll said. "And I think he was tonight, too. That kid was big and strong. He liked his under hooks, and he was good at them. Murray did a good job avoiding them and getting out of them when he could."Northwestern 64, Salisbury 12*106 - Matt Peters (NW) pinned Michael Murphy in 1:58.113 - Bailey Wehr (NW) won by forfeit.120 - Zach Adams (S) pinned Matt Shetayh in 3:35.126 - Jarrett White (NW) pinned Peter Dubois in 1:30.132 - Dalton Webster (NW) pinned Christian Butz in 2:49.138 - David Van Blargan (NW) pinned Antonio Alvarado in 2:35.145 - Caleb Clymer (NW) major dec. Nico Scarcia, 13-0.152 - Double forfeit160 - Shane Simononis (S) pinned Sam Day in 1:16.170 - Andrew Sorenson (NW) won by forfeit.182 - Anthony Fillis (NW) pinned Dillon Trenge in 2:54.195 - Alex Russo (NW) pinned Jared Burkhardt in 1:14.220 - Quin Moyer (NW) pinned Bailey Marcks in 2:50.285 - Jacob Murray (NW) pinned Alex Nicholas in 2:51.* Match started at 106 pounds