Weston Bare had been in a similar position earlier this season. The Solanco sophomore wrestler lost the final bout in a match with Hempfield, which allowed the Black Knights to tie the score and ultimately win on criteria. Bare earned some redemption in the Mules' 42-28 triumph over host Conestoga Valley Tuesday, January 2. Competing in the next-to-last bout with his team ahead by just two points, Bare recorded a first period pin to clinch Solanco's first league victory of the season over the reigning section champion Buckskins.
"I was last in the Hempfield match so I knew there was a lot of pressure," Bare said. "I was kind of fired up before I came out. It feels amazing. After the Hempfield loss, we went down. This means a lot to us." Bare (113) was aggressive from the start and flatted the Buckskins' Dylan Rider 58 seconds into the match. "I was extremely happy with his demeanor and his attitude," Solanco coach Tony Mendez said of Bare. "He was fired up and ready to go and he went after the guy. He didn't worry about the match situation. Not that that's what happened at Hempfield, but he didn't worry about the match situation. He just went out there and wrestled extremely well, took it right to him." The Mules trailed 22-12 before winning five of the last six bouts via fall. Mendez had faith in his team despite the deficit but was still a little wary. "I don't get real confident until the match ends," Mendez said with a smile. "I just want each guy to do their job and wrestle as hard as they can. I still go through and look at what ifs, but it's more important for those guys just to wrestle to the best of their ability every match." Nick Yannutz (195) started the comeback. Solanco forfeited the 220-pound bout before recording four straight pins. Heavyweight Nate Neuhauser needed just 52 seconds to prevail. Dominic Flatt (106) dominated his opponent, building a 13-2 lead before getting the fall with 20 seconds left to supply Solanco a 30-28 edge. "I didn't necessarily want to put it on my teammates," Flatt said. "I thought, 'I've got to do what I've got to do.' So I picked him up, brought him down, picked him up. He got out of it and I turned around and stuck him." Bare sealed the deal with his win by pin then Jared Fulton (120) put an exclamation point on the victory with another fall. "This is a big confidence booster," Flatt said. "A couple weeks ago we had Hempfield on the line, went into criteria and lost. That was a setback. We lost two after that. Then we come up here to a 2-1 team and beat them. That's incredible for us." Steven Williams (145) also scored a pin for the Mules and Jackson Houghton (126) and Ronnie Fulton (138) each prevailed by a decision. "The last couple days we've had a lot of bonding at practice," Mendez said. "The team started to come together and you could really tell on the mat. Our drilling had picked up in the room and they saw it tonight in their success. I hope it just continues. We went up to the Trojan Wars. It was a tough tournament. Some guys took their licks. When we came back to practices, guys came together and started drilling much harder. I think that's a big positive for us." Flatt says the win sends a message and sets the tone for the rest of the season. "It tells us we're more capable than everyone thinks," the defending league champion at 106 pounds said. "We're not going to walk in as underdogs and leave an underdog. We're going to walk in and put on a show." Comments are closed.
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