THREE RIVERS — Losses don’t get any tougher than the one suffered by the Niles High School wrestling team Wednesday at the Division 2 team regional at Three Rivers High School.

In the final match at 125 pounds, Parma Western’s Nathan Mcumber recorded a pin in 4:23 to give the Panthers a dramatic 34-32 win in the semifinals. Niles’ Cole Allison had led 6-3 before the stunning finish.

Viking coach Todd Hesson addressed a group of stunned wrestlers after the match.

“That’s how wrestling is,” said Hesson, whose team finishes at 18-9. “I don’t know how to put it. You’ve got to wrestle for six minutes and you got to get the bonus points. You can’t give up anything and you can’t take anything for granted. In the end, (Parma Western) they outwrestled us. They wanted it just a little bit more than we did. That’s too bad. I feel bad for our kids. But, we had the opportunities.”

It was the first time this season that Allison had faced Mccumber.

“Cole had been up at 130 and we dropped him down to 125, figuring we’d get the right matchup. Basically, at that point, we couldn’t get pinned or lose by bonus points. We were up 6-2 (in the second period). I can’t fault him. He wrestled tough.”

The four lead changes in the match came during the final four matches. Brendon Meek’s 13-6 win for Niles at 103 pounds gave the Vikings their first lead of the match at 26-25. Ryan Carroll gave the lead back to Parma Western at 28-26 after posting a 7-3 win at 112 pounds. Derek Mills’ pin in 2:50 at 119 pounds gave Niles its last lead of the match at 32-28.

Parma Western got off to a great, winning the first three matches and taking a 12-0 lead. Michael Gagney’s pin at 130 pounds, which was the first match, highlighted the beginning for the Panthers.

“We won at 135 on Saturday (at the individual districts) and we got beat tonight (5-3),” Hesson said. “But, that’s not on Casey (Burandt). We had plenty of opportunities to win other matches.”

Niles regrouped after the rough start and got back into the match. Donte Stevens improved to 31-6 after posting a 15-0 technical fall win at 145 pounds. Fritzel Findiesen then pulled the Vikings within 12-11 after getting a pin in 1:48 at 152 pounds. Findiesen improved his record to 42-4.

After losing the 160 and 171 pound matches to fall behind, 19-11, Niles got a clutch pin in 2:48 from 189-pounder Ryan Casey to cut the deficit to 19-17. Casey improved to 36-6.

Niles pulled within 25-23 after getting a pin in 5:13 from 285-pounder Derek Scott.

“We had our opportunities up and down the lineup,” Hesson said. “We lost some key matches and didn’t get a couple pins. We did get a couple pins in some spots. That’s just the way wrestling goes.”

With the loss of only three seniors, Niles has a good chance to build on this season’s success.

“It’s disappointing right now, but the future looks really good,” Hesson said.

Division 2 Team Regional

At Three Rivers

PARMA WESTERN…34

NILES…32

103: Brendon Meek (N) d. Brock Hoffman 13-6

112: Ryan Carroll (P) d. Nicholas Zimmerman 7-3

119: Derek Mills (N) p. Tade Price 2:50

125: Nathan Mccumber (P) p. Cole Allison 6-3

130: Michael Gagney (P) p. Noah Hall 1:36

135: Tanner Jewell (P) d. Casey Burandt 5-3

140: Tyler Ebersole (P) d. Jerico Lamberton 10-6

145: Donte Stevens (N) t.f. Garrett Cochrane 15-0

152: Fritzel Findiesen (N) p. Aaron White 1:48

160: Corey Kerseta (P) beat Daniel Sierra 7-1

171: Trent Hullett (P) m.d. John Couch 18-8

189: Ryan Casey (N) p. Dennis Tomblin 2:48

215: Brady Hoffman (P) p. Alex Bata 1:59

285: Derek Scott (N) p. Van Blarken 5:13