WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Down by eight points heading into the second period, sophomore Nikolas Christine (Lewistown, Pa./Indian Valley) turned Saturday, Feb. 9’s dual meet around by getting Millersville’s Joel Suter on his back, earning a second period pin, but a narrow decision at the heavyweight bout helped the Division II Millersville escape with an 18-15 win over the Lycoming College wrestling team at Lamade Gym.
 
The Warriors (7-8 overall) fell behind 15-3 after six bouts, but mounted a rally with three straight wins over the Marauders (3-9 overall).
 
Junior Johnathan Secor (Pompton Lakes, N.J./Pompton Lakes) started the run with a dominating 4-0 decision against Tyler Hoover at 174 pounds to improve to 16-14 on the season. Secor recorded a first period takedown and controlled the rest of the match, getting a second-period escape and a riding time point.
 
At 184 pounds, senior Tyler Cunningham (Haddon Township, N.J./Haddon Township) posted a come-from-behind win over Daniel Cox, 4-2. Cox got a first-period takedown and rode out the period, garnering more than a minute of riding time. In the second period, Cunningham got within a point with an escape and after Cox chose top in the third period, Cunningham first wiped the riding time advantage off the board and loaded up a 3-point near fall, cradling Cox as time expired to get the Warriors within six points.
 
Christine followed with a huge pin against Suter after Suter started the match with three near falls in the first period. Lycoming’s 197-pounder responded late in the period, though, with a reversal that turned the tide in the match. In the second period, Christine scored a takedown and quickly got Suter in position for the pin, getting both of Suter’s shoulders on the mat at the 3:31 mark, tying the match at 15.
 
Freshman Max Lamport (Califon, N.J./Voorhees) wrestled well at heavyweight for the Warriors against the Marauders’ wins leader, Brad Ladd, but Ladd used a second-period takedown and held on for a 3-1 win to give Millersville the dual meet. Lamport got in on a shot late in the third period, getting both hands around Ladd’s waist, but couldn’t complete the takedown as Ladd got out of bounds before his knees touched the mat.
 
After a pair of Millersville decisions opened the match, sophomore Caleb Willey (Towanda, Pa./Towanda Area) posted a 4-3 win over David Charles for his team-leading 22^nd win of the year. Willey got a first period takedown and a second-period escape to take a 3-0 lead before Charles tied the match in the third period with an escape and a takedown. However, with 22 seconds left, Willey earned an escape to take the match.
 
However, the Maruaders won the next three bouts, including a 2-1 tiebreaker win at 165 to take a 12-point lead, setting up Lycoming’s comeback.
 
The Warriors will look to get back to .500 to cap the dual meet season when they head to Gettysburg on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, for a 7:30 p.m. meet.
 
Millersville (MILL) 18, Lycoming (LYCO) 15
125 Samuel Oberlander, MILL, dec. Cody Barbiche, LYCO, 6-3 133 Kyle Loeb, MILL, dec. Zachary Finn, LYCO, 4-0 141 Caleb Willey, LYCO, dec. David Charles, MILL, 4-3 149 Brock Thompson, MILL, dec. Matthew Neff, LYCO, 4-2 157 Zac Wawrzyniak-Bush, MILL, dec. Brian Watkins, LYCO, 9-4 165 Zach Pincus (MILL) tb-1 Greg Wetzel (LYCO) 2-1 174 Johnathan Secor, LYCO, dec. Dane Woodruff, MILL, 4-0 184 Tyler Cunningham, LYCO, dec. Daniel Cox, MILL, 4-2 197 Nikolas Christine, LYCO, pinned Joel Suter, MILL, 3:31 285 Bradley Ladd, MILL, dec. Maxwell Lamport, LYCO, 3-1