Leopards Fierce Rally Lifts Them Past Carrollton, Now Alone in 1st – Wrestling
Louisville 33, Carrollton 28
The Louisville Leopards Varsity Wrestling Team scored 18 unanswered points to lift them past the 3-time defending NBC Champion Carrollton Warriors 33-28 Thursday Night at Louisville High School. With the victory, Louisville improves to 4-2 overall and now holds sole possession of first place in the NBC with a 4-0 league record.
The Warriors Alex Carrothers was able to put a late take down on the Leopards Zach Thatcher in the 195 matchup. That move turned a decision into a major decision in giving Carrollton a 28-15 lead and giving Louisville essentially no room for error with four matchups remaining.
In the next match, the Leopards Blake Robbins doubled up the Warriors Noah Rutledge 12-6 in the 220 match to pull LHS to within 28-18. With a strong lightweight lineup waiting on deck for Louisville, the match and first place in the league came down to the heavyweight matchup.
In almost scripted fashion, both the Leopards Riley Brendle and the Warriors Travis Rutledge scored on a single escape each for the only points of regulation. Brendle nearly had a take down in the first overtime period, but the referee ruled the wrestlers out of bounds keeping the 1-1 deadlock in-tact.
The two players battled into a tie-breaker. Rutledge won the toss and chose the bottom position. Brendle was in full control for most of the period, but Rutledge narrowly escape before the horn sounded to take a 2-1 lead. Brendle had an easier go at it in the second tie-breaker, as he escaped just 7 seconds into the period to knot the bout at 2-2. The remaining time ran out with the players deadlocked and unable to score.
The match headed into an ultimate tie-breaker to determine a winner. Rutledge chose the bottom position needing an escape to earn sudden victory. But the will of Brendle was stronger. Even through two whistles during the final 30 second period, Brendle refused to let go. In the waning seconds, Rutledge burst forth with one final push, but he couldn’t escape the grasp of Brendle. The horn sounded and emotion was let loose as Louisville crawled to within 28-21 with two favorable matchups waiting in the wings.
The lightweight matches went as planned. The Leopards Garett Lautzenheiser wasted no time in pinning the Warriors Jayden Zbuka in just 23 seconds during the 106 match to cut the deficit to 28-27. Thus, the 113 matchup would determine the winner and the fate of the NBC. Louisville’s Ryan Jakubiak took a 2-0 lead over Carrollton’s Brandon Brown priming the Leopards for victory. Jakubiak continued to work in the second period and was eventually able to turn Brown and pin him to give Louisville the come from behind victory.
Earlier, the Leopards took a 12-0 advantage out of the gate. Davin Rhoads (120) earned a 10-3 decision, Logan Vanicek (126) edged Carrollton’s Robbie Hoopes 5-4, and Carter Mickley (132) won by fall for Louisville.
However, the Warriors answered back with 24 straight points during a 28-3 run. Winners by decision for Carrollton included Tanner Newbold (138) 7-4 and Justin Shaw (152) 17-15 in overtime. Earning victory by fall for the Warriors were Ben Pasiuk (145) and Brice Weiland (160).
The Leopards elected to absorb the forfeit in the 170 match to let Brent Paulus move up to the 182 match. Brandon Daniels chalked up the win via the forfeit to make it 24-12 Carrollton. Paulus defeated the Warriors Jaret Lane for a hard-fought 8-6 decision in return.
The victory leaves Louisville alone in first place in the NBC and poised to win their first league title since 1997. Their next conference match will be at West Branch on February 1. They will return home for Senior Night against the Salem Quakers on February 8 and will also travel to play the Canton South Wildcats to conclude their NBC schedule.
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UP NEXT: The Leopards will next compete at the Hephner Memorial Tournament at Austintown Fitch High School this weekend. Action begins Friday, January 19 at 1:30 PM and day two starts at 9:00 AM on Saturday, January 20.
Carrollton Warriors at Louisville Leopards
Wrestling Pictures
Slideshow Photos and Cover Photo by Jim & Laura Photography
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Varsity Results
LEOPARDS 33, WARRIORS 28
- 120 Rhoads, Davin (Louisville) defeated Blake, Nate (Carrollton) === {Dec 10 – 3} | LHS 3, CHS 0
- 126 Vanicek, Logan (Louisville) defeated Hoopes, Robbie (Carrollton) === {Dec 5 – 4} | LHS 6, CHS 0
- 132 Mickley, Carter (Louisville) defeated Carter, Brayden (Carrollton) === {Fall 3:56} | LHS 12, CHS 0
- 138 Newbold, Tanner (Carrollton) defeated Kennedy, Daniel (Louisville) === {Dec 7 – 4} | LHS 12, CHS 3
- 145 Pasiuk, Ben (Carrollton) defeated Thompson, Jordan (Louisville) === {Fall 0:50} | LHS 12, CHS 9
- 152 Shaw, Justin (Carrollton) defeated Leonard, Jax (Louisville) === {Dec 17 – 15 (OT)} | LHS 12, CHS 12
- 160 Weiland, Brice (Carrollton) defeated Fehn, Vince (Louisville) === {Fall 4:12} | LHS 12, CHS 18
- 170 Daniels, Brandon (Carrollton) defeated Forfeit, (Louisville) === {Forfeit} | LHS 12, CHS 24
- 182 Paulus, Brent (Louisville) defeated Lane, Jaret (Carrollton) === {Dec 8 – 6} | LHS 15, CHS 24
- 195 Carrothers, Alex (Carrollton) defeated Thatcher, Zach (Louisville) === {Maj Dec 11-3} | LHS 15, CHS 28
- 220 Robbins, Blake (Louisville) defeated Rutledge, Noah (Carrollton) === {Dec 12 – 6} | LHS 18, CHS 28
- 285 Brendle, Riley (Louisville) defeated Rutledge, Tavis (Carrollton) === {Dec 3 – 2 (OT)} | LHS 21, CHS 28
- 106 Lautzenheiser, Garett (Louisville) defeated Zbuka, Jayden (Carrollton) === {Fall 0:23} | LHS 27, CHS 28
- 113 Jakubiak, Ryan (Louisville) defeated Brown, Brandon (Carrollton) === {Fall 2:52} | LHS 33, CHS 28
Records: Louisville 4-2, 4-0; Carrollton 3-1 NBC
