Solanco’s last-bout win over Manheim Township avenges similar fate last year

Turnabout is fair play.

Last year Manheim Township took a close victory over Solanco on the final bout of the evening. So, it was only fitting the Golden Mules would return the favor when the opportunity presented itself.

In the penultimate bout of the evening at 127 pounds, trailing 9-8 with just over 30 seconds left, the Golden Mules’ Nathan Smith reversed Malcom Sams, then knifed a half nelson to secure a fall with 24 seconds left.

The victory — Smith’s first of the season — pulled the Mules (1-0 league, 1-0 overall) to within three points of the Blue Streaks, who still led 33-30, but with the Streaks (0-1, 0-1) forfeiting 133 pounds, it set the stage for a 36-33 win in the L-L Section One opener for both teams.

“It was a really good match for having some younger guys and lower numbers,” Mules coach Tony Mendez said. “Both teams made their share of mistakes, (but) everybody worked hard.”

“There’s a lot of positives,” Streaks coach Aaron Moldoff said. “It’s December. Our goals, we wanted to win everything, but our goals are obviously beyond just that.”

Smith, who has chased success since his promotion as a freshman, led 7-2 after four minutes, but Sams hit an inside trip from neutral to open the third period, picking up three back points, to tie the match, then took the lead on a shrug takedown.

“They say don’t stop,” said Smith, enjoying the taste of victory after starting the season 0-4. “No matter if you’re down, you’re losing, you can still come back and get it right.”

“The thing is, he’s working extremely hard in the room,” Mendez said. “He’s doing all the right things. You want him to get a win so bad, and he’s been close.”

For every thrill of victory there’s an agony of defeat, and Moldoff made certain to take Sams aside with an encouraging word. “I told him don’t be too hard on yourself,” Moldoff said. “It’s a long season.

“Sometimes it’s easy to look at the last guy who wrestled and put all the blame on him, but there are 13 weight classes. It’s not his fauilt. It’s a team effort.”

With forfeits at three weights, the team split the remaining 10 with each side winning five bouts. Sophomore Jonas Gaydos, in his varsity debut, got the night off to a good start for the Streaks with a 6-5 victory at 139.

The Mules Ben Williams evened things up with a 6-5 win at 145, triggering a12-0 run for Solanco, as Logan DellaVecchia and Chase Plastino followed with victories, Plastino’s by fall.

Riley Schmidt and Alexear Soto got that back for Township with falls at 172 and 189, and Township’s Andrew Devenney offset Tyler Kreider’s fall at 215 with a fall at 285.

The teams split forfeits in the next two bouts, Solanco’s Caden Rutt with the walkover at 107, Kaedyn Williams at 114 for Township, and Louis Malave upped the Streaks advantage with a fall at 121. With L-L League champion Zach Landis out of the lineup at 133 for precautionary reasons, Township had no one there, so it would come down to 127.

The stat within the stats, and the silver lining in the loss, was Township’s advantage in takedowns. In first takedowns, the Streaks had a 7-3 advantage. In overall takedowns, it was 16-7 Streaks.