By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
EAU CLAIRE - It was a tough match for the Brandywine Bobcats Thursday night in the Division 4 wrestling conference match held at Eau Claire High School. Brandywine suffered a 57-21 loss to River Valley.
The Bobcats, who are ranked 10th in Division 4 wrestling, had a bye in the first round which automatically put them through to the finals.
The score was almost the same in the first round of district play as River Valley beat Eau Claire 64-16 to advance to the finals.
Kyle Perry was first to wrestle for Brandywine at 135 against River Valley's Dan East. Perry had a 16-4 lead in the third period when the match was called by technical fall. Brandywine took the 5-0 lead.
Jordan Bruni wrestled Mike Stein in the 140 class, but lost by technical fall in the third period with 55 second left.
Justin Price of Brandywine lost to Jason Ehlert by decision in the 145 class and Joel Perry was pinned 1:02 in the first period by Dustin Smith. River Valley had a 15-5 lead.
Eugene Miller looked like he was going to pull off an easy win against John Coniglio in the 160 class. Miller had the lead in all three periods, but his strength gave out in the third as he was pinned 5:06 into the match.
The Bobcat's Kyle Jones was also pinned by Tim Morrissey in the 171 class at the 2:27 mark giving the Mustangs the 27-5 lead.
Adam Simons was next up for the Bobcats and gave them their first and only pin of the night against Ben Kacmar 43 seconds into the first period of the 189 class. Simons pin gave the Bobcats six much needed points, but they were still down 27-11.
The next four wrestlers for Brandywine all suffered losses by pins.
Jeremy Hechtl was pinned by Zach Kacmar in the 215 class at the 3:27 mark.
Jeremy Howell was pinned by Mike Creekmore with one minite left in the first period of the 275 class. Andrew Libera was pinned by Dustin McMullin in the 103 class 1:05 into the first period and Kyle Brademas was pinned by John Stein in the 112 class 2:22 into the match to give the Mustangs an untouchable 51-11 lead.
Pat VanLaere was up next for Brandywine and won by decision against Kyle Gordon in the 119 class. VanLaere added four points to the Bobcats' score, but they were still down 51-15.
Adam Saltsman loss by pin to Ryan Narrigan 1:43 into the first period of the 125 class.
Lance Tallafero was the last to wrestle for Brandywine in the 130 class. He won by pin against Mike East 1:25 into the first. Tallafero gave the Bobcats six points, but it wasn't enough to give them the district championship.
River Valley won 57-21 and advanced to Regionals which will be held next Wednesday at Eau Claire High School.
Brandywine will travel to Bangor this Saturday for the Individual Districts.
River Valley……….57
Brandywine……….21
103: Dustin McMullin (RV) p. Andrew Libera (B) 1:05
112: John Stein (RV) p. Kyle Brademas (B) 2:22
119: Pat VanLaere (B) dec. Kyle Gordon (RV) 11-2
125: Ryan Narrigan (RV) p. Adam Saltsman (B) 1:43
130: Lance Tallatero (B) p. Mike East (RV) 1:23
135: Kyle Perry (B) tech. fall Dan East (RV) 19-4
140: Mike Stein (RV) tech. fall Jordan Bruni (B) 24-9
145: Jason Ehlert (RV) dec. Justin Price (B) 17-3
152: Dustin Smith (RV) p. Joel Perry (B) 1:02
160: John Coniglio (RV) p. Eugene Miller (B) 5:06
171: Tim Morrissey (RV) p. Kyle Jones (B) 2:27
189: Adam Simons (B) p. Ben Kacmar (RV) :43
215: Zach Kacmar (RV) p. Jeremy Hechtl (B) 3:27
275: Mike Creekmore (RV) p. Jeremy Howell (B) 1:00