The first bout set the tone for the dual meet:
Cherry Hill West's Nick Mohrfeld scored a reversal at the buzzer in the third period, and went on to win the 106-pound bout by one point in riding time.
"It was a little scary, but I was just happy I pulled it out," said Mohrfeld, who improved to 9-2 as his Cherry Hill West wrestling team beat Paul VI on the road, 45-21, Wednesday night.
"But we have a good group of kids and we work together really well."
Mohrfeld's win was one of several nail-biters for West.
At 160 pounds, West's Max McKenna scored a takedown and two back points with two seconds left in the third period, securing an 11-7 win over Tom Mosolovich. And at 170, Connor Schuck improved to 11-0 with a pin of Rob Hehl right before the third-period buzzer.
While West coach Zach Semar appreciated the theatrics, and even more so the win, he was quick to point out how dangerous bouts such as those can be.
"If we drop a couple of those close matches, the end result could have been very different for our team," Semar said. "But the win is nice and to watch our lower [weight] guys step up, that was great."
In a rematch of last year's 152-pound regional bout, Paul VI's Jaime Calhoun once again topped West's Tyler Layton.
Calhoun went up big early in the match and held off Layton for an 11-5 decision.
"Calhoun was able to get him to his back, stay in a good position, and wrestle a smart match," Semar said. "With a good wrestler like him, if you spot him five to seven points, it's almost impossible to come back."
Semar was especially happy with Schuck, who was giving up 10 pounds in his bout.
"He's wrestled up a weight in every dual match that we've had so far, and he's just going after guys," Semar said.
Other notable matches included David Capone pinning Paul VI's Nicholas Hutchinson just 41 seconds into the 195-pound match. In the next bout, at 220, West's Zach Tomaino came up with a pin of Kevin Cooper - from a defensive position - 43 seconds into the first period.
The Results
106: Nick Mohrfeld, Cherry Hill West, dec. Tyler White, 3-2; 113: Matt Howe, Cherry Hill West, pin Liam Keller, 3:10; 120: Pete Dorety, Paul VI, dec. Kevin Davies, 9-3; 126: Tyler Brake, Cherry Hill West, pin Angelo Acevedo, 3:02; 132: Mark Papaneri, Cherry Hill West, dec. Nick Theisen, 8-2; 138: Jimmy Walsh, Paul VI, dec. Edgar Aliferov, 6-0; 145: Mike Marini, Cherry Hill West, pin Ralph Venuto, 1:14; 152: Jaime Calhoun, Paul VI, dec. Tyler Layton, 11-5; 160: Max McKenna, Cherry Hill West, dec. Tom Mosolovich, 11-7; 170: Connor Schuck, Cherry Hill West, pin Rob Hehl, 5:59; 182: Mark Alberto, Paul VI, pin Tucker Patten, 3:41; 195: David Capone, Cherry Hill West, pin Nicholas Hutchinson, 0:43; 220: Zach Tomaino, Cherry Hill West, pin Kevin Cooper, 0:43; Hwt.: Kyle Goodwin, Paul VI, pin Jose Valentin, 0:39.
Contact Chris Melchiorre at rallysports@phillynews.com.
