Mt. Pleasant junior Andy Yoder readily acknowledged that he hasn't gotten off to the best start in the 2011-12 wrestling season. However, on Wednesday night, Yoder came up big in a clutch situation.
In a key Section 2-AA (2B) match against rival Yough, the host Vikings found themselves trailing by three points headed into the final bout of the evening. But Yoder, who was trailing early in the third period of the 132-pound weight class, made a move and pinned Teddy Charletta to give Mt. Pleasant an important 36-33 victory.
"Wrestling in the first period, I felt a lot stronger and I was confident I could take him down," Yoder said. "I wasn't worried going into the third. I threw a half on one side and he put a hip down, and I threw another half and stuck him in his own move. I started off this year kind of slow, but this gives me a lot of confidence and I can't wait to wrestle again."
Yoder's victory was important for his confidence, but perhaps even more important for the Vikings as they try to put themselves in playoff position.
"We knew this one could have swung either way," Mt. Pleasant coach Mike Long said. "We just had to have what happened, happen. A lot of kids stepped up. We won eight matches, and we only had 11 kids wrestle."
The Vikings (6-3, 2-1) started out strong, winning the first five bouts. Aldo Garcia (138) and Ethan Charlesworth (145) got it started with back-to-back major decisions. Austin Mears (152) followed with a pin before Bobby Long (160) and Cole Murtha (170) each posted a decision to give Mt. Pleasant a 20-0 lead.
Yough's Greg Sleith (182) got his team on the board with a pin, but Eli Holt (195) restored Mt. Pleasant's 20-point lead with a pin of his own. Christian Williams (220) pulled Yough to within 26-12 with a pin, but Mt. Pleasant's Jonah Long (285) followed with a major decision to give the Vikings a 30-12 advantage heading into the light weights.
Unfortunately for the Vikings, they had to literally give away their lead. Yough's Cody Charles (106), Donte Botti (113) and Robert Nuttall (120) all received forfeits to tie the match, 30-30.
Travis Stangeroom (126) held off Shawn Prinkey for a 9-8 win to give Yough a 33-30 lead before Yoder came up with his late-match heroics to push the Vikings to victory.
"We're in a good position now," Mike Long said. "But this one is behind us, and we have to get ready to wrestle Southmoreland (on Wednesday). If we wrestle like this, we'll be successful."
For the Cougars (3-2, 1-2), a big improvement is needed the rest of the way.
"I didn't think we wrestled well," Yough coach Jeremy Zufall said. "I think they should have beaten us by 12 or 14 points. We just didn't wrestle, and they were better than us. We just didn't show up, and we weren't ready to wrestle."
