by Ryan Mosher
The Berlin-New Lebanon wrestling team took four of seven matches in their Tuesday night dual meet against Taconic Hills. Unfortunately, the visiting Titans took four of the five forfeits in the meet to take a 42-30 victory.
Taconic Hills led 24-6 before the actual wrestling began due to weight class forfeits. Even down that much, the Mountaineers did not seem to worry. After dropping the first match at 112 pounds and falling to a 30-6 deficit, Berlin came back strong. Sean Atchinson, of New Lebanon, took down his opponent with a quick throw and recorded a pin in :29 seconds. The Mountaineers’ Dylan Lee may have been the only one unimpressed, as he stepped onto the mat a minute later and recorded his pin in just 16 seconds.
Now Berlin was down just 30-18 and looked to be making a comeback. Unfortunately, the Titans recorded pins in the next two matches to take a 42-18 lead. At 189 pounds, Nick Dorn recorded a pin at 1:04, bringing the score to 42-24. In the final match of the meet, Jordon Rathbun fought hard, jumping out to a 7-2 lead. It was the only match that made it to the second period, but it did not last long beyond that as Rathbun pinned his opponent just 28 seconds into the period. That put the final score at 42-30. The Mountaineers are now off until January when they travel to the Maple Hill tournament on the 9th.