Winters Mill Downs Liberty in Close Wrestling Match

It went down to the final match, but Winters Mill hung on to defeat Liberty 35-25 Saturday.

The match was still in doubt as the last two wrestlers stepped on the mat. Liberty’s Max Witte and Winters Mill’s Chase Cullison were those two grapplers at 152. Cullison earned a takedown and pinned Witte in 1:37 to claim the team win for the host Falcons.

"I thought Liberty’s kids looked really, really sharp. I have no doubt if they looked this sharp when they wrestled South Carroll and Century they would have had a much tougher match. We were spotty,’’ said Winters Mill coach John Lowe.

Saturday was senior day for the Falcons as they introduced the three seniors and their families. The seniors are Zach Lefko, Keith Steine and Justin Kozera.

After the match, Winters Mill stood at 5-0 in the county, the same as South Carroll. Liberty fell to 2-3 in the county and 13-4 overall.

Asked if the weather or the long day effected the team, Lowe said, "It’s hard to tell. Could be snow, could be we felt like we could win this going in and maybe we were wrestling not to lose in a few spots. We had a few really nice bright spots Cody Sharkey, Justin Kozera, Chase Cullison and Marshal Chang, these guys won some close ones and did a nice job. Some of the guys were real aggressive for us, we feel that is our style and want everybody to wrestle that way for this one.’’

The Falcons claimed the win with only two pins by Chase Cullison and Kozera. Cody Sharkey aided the Winters Mill effort with a major decision at 140.

Winters Mill jumped out to a 6-0 lead with two decisions as the match started at 160 pounds. The Lions came back to tie the match at six, due to a pin by Tony Craig at 189. Liberty took a 12-6 lead as Matt Belle gained a pin at 215.

Winters Mill came back to take the lead as Kozera claimed his pin in 46 seconds. The Falcons went up by six, as Flavio Valdez got a forfeit at 103. The Lions got a decision at 112 to climb within three points. Chris Rose helped the home team push the lead to six points with a decision at 119.

Liberty took the next two matches to even the score at 21-all. Steine showing senior leadership got a hard earned decision at 135 and Sharkey followed him on the mat for the technical fall.

Liberty’s Nick Joesph kept the Lions in the match with a major decision, before Chase Cullison put the match away with a pin.

"It was nice to come out and actually see the kids wrestle with fire. Not taking anything away from South Carroll or Century, but we came out flat last weekend. The biggest thing we stressed to the kids was coming out ready to wrestle and go a hard six minutes and we saw that in a majority of our matches today. It was nice bounce back match, but unfortunately we weren’t the winners,’’ said Liberty coach Michael Flemming.

Winters Mill and South Carroll will meet on Feb. 1 on the Falcon‘s mat. They were to have matched up last week, but was postponed due to snow.

"Nothing but prop for Liberty, because they were very, very sharp. I know as a coach I don’t take them lightly, I don’t know if the kids did or not. We are very relieved to have that one behind us,’’ said Lowe.

Winters Mill 35, Liberty 25

160-Allen Corbin, WM dec. Garrett Lewis, 5-2.

171-Marshal Chang, WM dec. Ben Greene, 5-4.

189-Tony Craig, L pin Ryan Hightower, 5:14.

215-Matt Belle, L pin Brandon Burndley, 2:59.

285-Justin Kozera, WM pin Tony Bassani, :46.

103-Flavio Valdez, WM by forfeit.

112-Ryan Craig, L dec Taylor Logue, 6-5.

119-Chris Rose, WM dec. Joe Kuegler, 7-6.

125-Dave Kuegler, L dec. Gunner Cullison, 10-7.

130-Dan Markosky, L dec. Wes Cook, 4-3.

135-Keith Steine, WM dec. Casey Shea, 6-3.

140-Cody Sharkey, WM tech. fall Frank Coughlin, 16-0.

145-Nick Joesph, L maj. Dec. Dylan Perry, 13-4.

152-Chase Cullison, WM pin Max Wittle, 1:37.