LEWISBURG — Justin Michaels knew bonus points — both earning them and limiting them — would be critical if his Lewisburg wrestling team had any hope of earning its first trip to the District 4 Class AA Duals in Milton on Saturday. With a solid Hughesville side across the mat in the opening round of the Duals Wednesday night, the Green Dragons had plenty of reason to worry.
Turns out Michaels concerns were misplaced. Grabbing the early momentum, Lewisburg turned in its best performance of the season, getting critical early bonus points and saving bonus points throughout the lineup.
Lewisburg beat Hughesville for the eighth-straight time since 2015, cruising to a 38-23 win over the Spartans and a berth opposite Benton, the No. 2 seed.
“This is the best we have wrestled all season,” Michaels said. “We thought this match might come down to the end but we got early momentum and a ton of good performances in losses where we didn’t give up bonus points and that was the key.”
The momentum started with a 4-1 decision from Trent Wenrich in the opening bout at 172 and built when Derek Shedleski followed with a fall at 189. When Evan Frederick followed with a stunning all over Brayden Wright at 215, Lewisburg led 15-0.
“I could feel he was getting tired as the match went on and I knew a pin would be huge. It felt great.”
When the Spartans forfeited at 285, the lead stretched to 21-0 and Hughesville never recovered.
The Spartans got victories at 107 and 114 but the Green Dragons got gret performances from Nolan Atloft and Landon Michaels to save bonus points.
When the strength of the Spartans lineup — 133 though 152 — failed to generate any momentum, the Hughesville was doomed. Caden Puderbach picked a a tech fall at 133 and Keagan Smith a fall at 152.
In other D-4 Duals action from the area:
No. 3 Canton beat No. 14 Milton, 42-22
No. 9 Southern Columbia beat No. 8 Sugar Valley Rural Charter, 43-24
No. 2 Benton beat No. 15 Line Mountain, 58-11
District 4 Class 2A Quarterfinal
No. 7 Lewisburg 38, No. 10 Hughesville 23
172: Trent Wenrich (L) dec. Luke Stutzman, 4-1.
189: Derek Shedleski (L) pinned Wyatt Gavitt, 4:55.
215: Evan Frederick (L) pinned Brayden Wright, 5:34.
285: Lennon Barner (L) won by forfeit.
107: Nathan Bieber (H) dec. Nolan Altoft, 10-4.
114: Chase Shaner (H) dec. Landon Michaels, 9-2.
121: Jace Gessner (L) won by forfeit.
127: Landen Wagner (L) tech. fall Wesley Harvey, 15-0, 4:23.
133: Caiden Puderbach (H) tech. fall Ethan Long, 15-0, 2:49.
139: Conor Knight (H) dec. Quinton Bartlett, 15-8.
145: Mason Mordan (H) dec. Derek Gessner, 7-0.
152: Keagan Smith (H) pinned Ahmaad Robinson, 1:20.
160: Chase Wenrich (L) pinned Kadin Fetterman, :43.
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