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High School Wrestling - Upper Dauphin Area 34, Line Mountain 33
Coach: Trojans 'fought for every point' in big win against Eagles
By Tony Matter, CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Upper Dauphin Area’s Ethan Stiles holds Line Mountain’s Mason Zimmerman, a regional qualifier last season, to five points. LEFT OR RIGHT: UDA’s David Miller’s 9-1 major decision against the Eagles’ Ryan Paul gave the Trojans an additional point that would prove crucial to the outcome of the match. (Sentinel photos by Christina Zeiders)

ELIZABETHVILLE • Wrestling is often considered an individual sport – especially in Pennsylvania. The PIAA state tournament, held every March in Hershey, is the showcase event of the year – not only statewide, but nationally as well.

For Upper Dauphin Area, individual accomplishments have taken a back seat to team statistics this season, and that was never more evident than in the Trojans’ 34-33 victory over perennial Tri-Valley League powerhouse Line Mountain Jan. 12.

Combining key bonus-point victories and non-bonus-point losses with a strategy to set up the most beneficial matchups, UDA shocked the capacity crowd at its Gordon D. Foster Gymnasium.

The victory, Upper Dauphin’s first over Line Mountain since the 2004-05 season, gives the Trojans a leg up for the Tri-Valley League title. It also marked the 400th victory for the UDA wrestling program.

‘‘Every guy, top to bottom, did a good job,’’ UDA Head Coach Todd Rupp said. ‘‘We’re not the best team in the state, but we keep wrestling hard. The guys fought for every point, and I couldn’t be prouder of them.’’

UDA held a slim 34-30 lead heading into the last bout of the evening at 170 pounds. The Trojans’ J.P. Leitzel – wrestling above his weight class because Rupp opted to forfeit the 160-pound bout – faced off against the bigger Britton Heim from Line Mountain. Leitzel played it safe and avoided giving up any back points in a 5-0 loss that only earned the Eagles three points and secured the one-point victory for the Trojans.

Typically, losses aren’t so well received, but Leitzel, and the rest of his teammates, jumped for joy after his defeat.

‘‘Normally, he [Leitzel] would have went out there and tried to do something to beat the kid,’’ Rupp said, ‘‘But he went out and was totally unselfish. He wrestled well.’’

Upper Dauphin forfeited three matches, conceding a total of 18 points to the Eagles. According to Rupp, he knew he was going to forfeit those matches as soon as his team won the opening coin toss. Winning the toss gave Rupp the preferential option for sending wrestlers onto the mat second at key weight classes, and therefore establishing the matchups that best suited his team.

“It was a risk, but in the end, everything played out almost exactly like we figured it would,’’ Rupp said.

The match started at 182 pounds, and Line Mountain took an early 3-0 lead after Erik Smeltz topped Trey Campbell 7-2. Brock Snyder (195) got UDA on the board with the first of four Trojan pins. Snyder pasted the Eagles’ Rayce Boyer in 1 minute, 22 seconds to give the home team the edge 6-3 after two bouts.

The first Trojan forfeit came next, when the Eagles sent Kenny Rothermel to the mat at 220 pounds. The forfeit set up a heavyweight matchup between the Trojans’ Jon Hunsberger and Line Mountain’s Anthony Peipher. Hunsberger, a standout track and field star for Upper Dauphin, threw Peipher to his back and pinned the Eagle in 51 seconds to set off a string of victories that would widen the team gap.

Following Hunsberger’s pin, UDA won four consecutive bouts, starting with Coy Campbell’s 7-5 victory over Cameron Newman at 106 pounds. The matchup was what experts call a “swing bout,” one that had the potential to swing the match in the winning teams favor.

“We knew (Campbell) had to win all week,” said Rupp. “We knew it was going to be a close match, and we needed him to wrestle well. He definitely responded.”

Derek Garber got another pin for UDA in the 113-pound bout, widening the team score to 21-9. Garber’s 24-second fall was followed up by a hard-fought 9-4 decision by the Trojans’ Devon Hoffman at 120 pounds.

At 126 pounds, UDA got a surprise fall from freshman Cody Snyder, who hit Line Mountain’s Blake Carl with a lateral headlock early in the second period for the pin. Snyder’s victory moved the team score to 30-9, and the sense in the gym was that something special was underway.

At 132 pounds, most in attendance would have expected Line Mountain to earn some bonus points, but UDA’s Ethan Stiles fought hard in a 5-0 loss to Line Mountain’s Mason Zimmerman, a 2011 regional qualifier.

The Trojans once again forfeited the next bout, this time ceding six points to the Eagles instead of squaring off against returning state qualifier Seth Lansberry in the 138-pound bout. The forfeit tightened the team score to 30-18.

The 145-pound bout proved to be huge, as Upper Dauphin’s David Miller earned a 9-1 major decision against Ryan Paul. The major decision gave the Trojans an extra team point, making the score 34-18 heading into the final three bouts.

The Eagles’ Adam Kritzer, a returning state qualifier, made short work of the Trojans’ Jake Wolfe with a 1:24 second fall in the 152-pound bout, making the score 34-24 UDA. Rupp forfeited one more time at 160 pounds to set up the 170-pound bout be-tween Leitzel and Heim.

Before the match, District 3 released its AA power rankings and Upper Dauphin debuted in fourth place behind traditional powers Boiling Springs, Bermudian Springs and Biglerville. Interestingly, not one Trojan cracked the top four individually in any weight class, a statement about the emphasis this squad is placing on the team instead of the individual.

“The kids believed in our game plan and it paid off tonight,” Rupp said. “This is a big win for Upper Dauphin wrestling. Line Mountain is a measuring stick for us, and this win lets us know that we’re moving in the right direction.”

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