ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon wrestling team came close to knocking off a second straight ranked opponent Tuesday night at the Hammermill, but the Golden Knights couldn't hold off Ashland down the stretch and settled for a tie with the 18th team in the country.
Gannon held a 15-6 advantage heading into the final three matches, but Ashland earned three straight decisions to end the match in a tie. The closely contested match saw all 10 bouts end in decisions by six points or less with just one nearfall.
Ashland jumped on the board first 3-0 after Daniel Mandera earned a 3-2 decision over Jose Matos (Williamstown, N.J. / St. Augustine College Preparatory School) in the 125-pound bout. Matos earned a takedown in the first period, but saw Mandara take the 3-2 lead with an escape and a takedown.
John Fleming (Bethel Park, Pa. / Lakeview) started the scoring for the Golden Knights with a 2-0 win over Scott Meyer at 133 pounds. After a scoreless first period, Fleming scored two points on a reversal in the second and rode out Meyer in the third to earn the win.
#A.J. Milanak# (Apollo, Pa. / Kiski Area), the region's top-ranked wrestler at 141 pounds, won by a 3-2 decision over Kyle Kanaga. Headed into the third period, Milanak chose down and earned the win with an escape.
No. 8 Ethan Swope (Luthersburg, Pa. / DuBois Area) won the third straight match for Gannon with a takedown in the final minute to win the 149-pound match by a 4-3 score. Ashland then narrowed the lead with a win in the 157-pound bout.
Zack McKendree (Vandergrift, Pa. / Kiski Area) narrowly missed earning a major decision for the Golden Knights after taking down Jake Piatt four times during his 12-6 win in the 165-pound class. McKendree went for the eight-point margin feverishly during the match's final 30 seconds, but Piatt was able to avoid the major decison.
Gannon's final points of the night would come in the 174-pound bout with No. 2 Tony Petrella's (Reynoldsburg, Ohio / Bishop Hartley) 3-2 overtime win over Ryan Thatcher. After the overtime sudden-victory period ended scoreless, Petrella rode out Thatcher in the first 30-second tiebreaker period and earned an escape during the second to earn his ninth win of the season.
Ashland would earn wins from Brandon Kelly (3-1), Corby Running (7-2) and Jacob Southwick (4-0) in the final three matches to end the score in a 15-15 tie.
McKendree now sits at 19-7 overall with a perfect 6-0 record in dual meets. Swope is 18-9 overall and 4-1 in dual meets.
Gannon is now 4-1-1 while Ashland is 7-2-1. For a complete results from tonight's Gannon-Ashland wrestling match, please click here.
