By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
DECATUR – After losing the first four matches of the night and finding itself in a 19-0 hole, the Brandywine varsity wrestling team knew it was in for a tough night.
The Bobcats met Bangor on the mat for the semifinal round of the Division 4 Regional wrestling tournament, where they suffered a 40-24 loss.
Brandywine fell behind early as it Robert Nickless (119), Pat Van Laere (125), Anthony Aguilar (130) and Ben Gerber (135) fell in their matches.
Chase Molica was the first Bobcat grappler to put points on the board as he decisioned Randy Rice, 11-5.
Josh Hayden (145) and Justin Price (152) each fell to their opponents, putting the Bobcats down 28-3.
Joel Perry gave Brandywine its second win of the night when he beat Emmanuael Alcaraz 11-6 at 160-pounds, bringing the score to 28-6.
The Bobcats again fell in the next two matches as Brad Ritchey (171) and Kyle Jones (189) suffered losses.
Jeremy Hechtl pinned Kade Messersmith at 215 less than a minute into the match, adding six more points to Brandywine's score.
Danny Eaglebarger fell to Nick Murphy at 275, giving Bangor a 41-12 advantage.
The Bobcats picked up 12 points in the next two matches as Justin Batman (103) and Bryon Fisher (112) both won by forfeit. Despite the wins, Bangor was out of reach and advanced to the finals.
The Vikings ended up defeating Decatur, 32-23, to grab the Division four title.
Brandywine will send six wrestlers to the individual regional meet on Saturday. Fisher, Van Laere, Aquilar, Molica, Price and Hechtl will all compete for titles at Bangor.
Division 4 Regional semifinals
At Decatur
Bangor … 40
Brandywine … 24
103 – Justin Batman (BW) won by forfeit
112 – Bryon Fisher (BW) won by forfeit
119 – L. Martinex (BA) dec. Robert Nickless, 12-1
125 – Dustin Burrows (BA) dec. Pat Van Laere, 10-4
130 – William Hodge (BA) dec. Anthony Aguilar, 17-2
135 – Tyler Melvin (BA) p. Ben Gerber, 5:01
140 – Chase Molica (BW) dec. Randy Rice, 11-5
145 – Jesse McDonald (BA) dec. Josh Hyaden, 8-5
152 – Kyle Dorran (BA) p. Justin Price, 4:55
160 – Joel Perry (BW) dec. Eman Alcaraz, 11-5
171 – Brandon Shull (BA) p. Brad Ritchey, :51
189 – Randal Dibble (BA) dec. Kyle Jones, 4-0
215 – Jeremy Hechtl (BW) p. C. Messersmith, :56
275 – Nick Murphy (BA) dec. Danny Eaglebarger, 18-10