The Waynesboro varsity wrestling team headed into the Christmas break with its second home meet of the season on Tuesday, Dec. 19 against South Western in a non-conference matchup.
After having to forfeit three bouts (107, 114 and 215), the Indians needed to string a bunch of wins together to overcome the 18-0 deficit. There were some strong individual showings by Waynesboro wrestlers but not enough points to rally as the Mustangs defeated the Tribe 43-24.
If putting things in perspective helps, Waynesboro won six of the 11 contested matches. If the forfeits were thrown out, the Indians would have lost 25-24.
The Indians won by fall in three bouts. Two wins were by decision and one by forfeit.
Jayden Rooney continues to impress at 139 pounds. The junior won by pin in 41 seconds. After the initial takedown, Rooney, who placed second at the very competitive Carlisle Invitational, took Adan Livelsberger to his back and that was it.
Two bouts later, Tyler Rooney earned a fall in 1:23 at 152 pounds. Rooney scored on a quick takedown. After Mark Keating got an escape point, Rooney took him down again and got three back points before recording the fall in 1:23.
Clayton Costella gutted out a 5-4 decision in the 160-pound bout against Grant Meyers. Costella maneuvered for the first takedown to take a 2-0 lead after the first period. He started the second period down and got up for an escape. That was the only point of the second period, setting up an eventful third period. Meyers scored all four of his points in the third period, including a takedown. But Costella got two points on a late reversal and held on for the win.
Caden Shockey ended the night with a 3-0 win against Kaiden Conaboy in the 189-pound match. Shockey, who was fourth at the Carlisle Invitational, scored on an escape to start the second period and worked for a takedown in the third to end the scoring.
Waynesboro finished a busy first week of the 2023-24 season with four straight days on the mat.
After a home dual meet against Chambersburg, Waynesboro defeated Greencastle-Antrim 52-24 on Thursday, Dec. 14 in Greencastle. The team then headed up I-81 to the Carlisle Individual Tournament on Friday, Dec. 15 and Saturday, Dec. 16.
At Greencastle, Waynesboro won three first three matches by fall to jump out to an 18-0 lead.
Clayton Costella was first on the mat at 160 pounds. He needed only 25 seconds to pin his opponent. Titus Mong followed with a pin in 1:25 at 172 pounds, and Caden Shockey worked for a fall in 40 seconds.
Greencastle surged back to win four of the next five bouts, including three consecutive wins by forfeit at 107, 114 and 121 pounds. Nathan Painter recorded a fall in 2:39 at 215 pounds to give the Blue Devils their first six points.
Waynesboro’s Cort Myers kept the pin streak going for his team as he won by fall in 1:40 to give the Tribe a 24-6 lead.
The three forfeits tied the meet at 24, but Waynesboro won the final five matches, including four straight by pin – Steven Howard (127, 3:16), Colin Young (133, 1:02), Jayden Rooney (139, 0:31) and Calvin Myers (145, 0:44).
