Ringgold grapplers fall to Upper St. Clair

By DAN PALM
MVI Sports
The Ringgold wrestling team couldn’t overcome a short roster due to injuries in a 41-27, 3A Subsection 2B, loss to Upper St Clair at home Wednesday.
The Rams (0-2, 0-2) won five of the eight bouts contested on the mat but couldn’t overcome three forfeits and two “no-matches” where neither team had a wrestler available.
“We were shorthanded which is unfortunate but we still thought we had a chance to win,” said Ringgold coach Todd Miller. “We are missing a ton of guys due to injury. It’s part of being a team but we really haven’t had to deal with it in the past. We didn’t achieve victory unfortunately but I’m proud of the effort these guys gave.”
The contest started at 120 pounds after neither squad could produce competitors at 106 or 113 pounds. Noah Mimidis got the home crowd energized with a third period pin in a close match to put the Rams up 6-0.
At 126 and 132 pounds, Ringgold took tough losses. Daniel Verscharen got pinned by Ryan Wells and Nate Peter lost a five-point technical fall to Danny Martin to give the Panthers an 11-6 team lead.
“Mimidis got a huge win as a first-year freshman,” Miller said. “For a new guy to step up in a big section match like that is huge. And Peters was able to stay off his back and not give up a pin. He is another first year and for him to realize the importance of that will go a long way in the future for him.
The Rams had to forfeit the next three matches to go down 29-6. At 160 pounds Logan Vickers (6-4) pulled out a 9-3 win and Jacob Duncan (8-2) received a forfeit at 170 to close the gap to 29-15.

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