Hempfield wrestling uses forfeits, big run to defeat Greensburg Salem

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, January 16, 2019 | 10:30 PM

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Spotting No. 2 Hempfield 12 points from two forfeits isn’t a good recipe in winning a wrestling match.

That’s where No. 9 Greensburg Salem found itself Wednesday in its first-place showdown at Hempfield.

Those forfeits were part of eight consecutive Hempfield wins, and it rode that wave to a 39-21 victory in the 20th edition of the Crosstown Cup series between the rivals. Hempfield (11-1, 5-0) leads the series 12-8.

The victory sets up a battle Jan. 23 with Hempfield and No. 7 Norwin, coached by former Hempfield boss Vince DeAugustine, at the WPIAL Class AAA, Section 1 tournament at Kiski Area. Greensburg Salem (6-2, 4-1) will face No. 1 Kiski Area.

“It was fun,” Hempfield coach Tommy Dolde said about competing against Greensburg Salem for the first time as Spartans coach. “Anytime you wrestle a team coached by Randy (Parsley), you’re going to be in for a battle. They do a great job.

“We won some nice matches after those two forfeits. Isaiah (Vance) got us going, and then we got nice wins at 120 (pounds), 126 and 132. Getting those five wins was huge.”

Greensburg Salem grabbed a 3-0 lead when Trent Patrick defeated Dillon Ferretti, 3-1, with a takedown in overtime at 220 pounds.

Vance, a sophomore, got that win back with a 6-4 decision against Greensburg Salem freshman heavyweight Bill McChesney.

The forfeits came at 106 and 113 pounds. Ethan Berginc kept the ball rolling with a 9-0 major decision at 120 over Cody Kaufman and Nolan Daerr downed Nico Williams, 7-3, at 126.

“I thought we could win a couple of those matches down below and we didn’t,” Parsley said. “They were matches we needed to get. I thought we could keep it close.”

After Hempfield’s Jared Brean picked up a technical fall at 132, Ty Linsenbigler (138) and Zack Berginc (145) put the match out of reach with wins to make it 33-3.

Linsenbigler defeated his friend Dajauhn Hertzog, 8-2.

“The guys down low started off well for us,” Linsenbigler said. “Once it got to us in the middle, we didn’t have to stress over anything and were able to go out and have fun.

“Dajauhn is one of my good friends, and I love going against him. We practice together. Anytime you compete against Greensburg Salem, we’re friends off the mat and foes on.”

Greensburg Salem got pins from Sage Parsley (160) and Caleb Chismar (182), a 2-0 win by Ian Ewing over Trevor Verkleeren at 152 and 3-1 overtime wins by John Meyers (195) and Patrick.

“We got to reverse a couple losses from (Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association tournament) counties,” Parsley said, “and Sage, Ian and Caleb came up big.”

Dolde said while he is pleased with the outcome, he knows there is work to do before the Spartans face Norwin. He was unsure if his team would go to the Escape the Rock tournament this weekend at Council Rock South because of the weather.

“They won all the close ones,” Dolde said. “We have to have short memories and start battling in the room.”

Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.

Tags: Greensburg Salem, Hempfield