HERSHEY, Pa. – Jeff Sweigard couldn’t handle it.
For the first time in his 20-plus years on the bench, the Central Dauphin head coach had to walk away.
"I couldn’t handle it. I don’t know if that was a bad thing or a good thing," he said. "The kid has guts. He must get it from his mother."
The situation was understandable. The Rams were clinging to a 35-30 lead. Jeff’s son, A.J., was wrestling Central Mountain 140-pounder Brian Brill, but got hit with a massive headlock 30 seconds into the second period. A.J. Sweigard was in deep trouble, his shoulders nearly stuck into the Resilite, but he continually fought off his back.
The Ram got out of trouble, and held Brill to a 10-1 major decision, lifting CD to a slim, 35-34 victory Saturday morning at the Giant Center in a battle of two nationally-ranked top 7 squads.
Central Dauphin later went on to cruise past Parkland for a state title, while Central Mountain earned third after victories over Council Rock South (36-25) and Easton Area (38-25). In that round of wrestling, CM heavyweight Zach Corl picked up his 100th victory, joining 100-win teammates Andrew Alton, Dylan Alton, Jordan Rich and Dylan Caprio.
"I told them that this is what sports is all about: Teaching life lessons," CM head coach Doug Buckwalter said. "There will be times in life when you almost come close to something and you have to rebound and come back. This is great preparation for the tournament at the end of the year. If you happen to get upset, you have to bounce back and come back through the consolation bracket.
"It’s going to be a great learning experience for our young guys, and I hope it motivates them for the future. In the long run, the people sitting in the stands got the most out of it because it was a tremendous dual meet. It’s a shame that it happened in the semifinals rather than the finals. That’s the way it happened."
Jeff Sweigard’s reaction was just a microcosm of the emotion felt by everyone. At that moment, his coaching hat went off and he became dad. Dad couldn’t even watch as Brill had A.J. in deep trouble – along with Central Dauphin’s chance of another team duals title.
"I always try to treat my son like the other guys, you know what I mean," Jeff Sweigard said. "I don’t say anything different to him than I would anyone else. But when you have to go home and look him in the eye, it is a little different.
"He is a team wrestler. He loves our team. He’ll do anything for us. He’s not big on going to tournaments, but he’ll do anything for this team. He’s an average wrestler with big heart."
The championship between Parkland and Central Dauphin took place at 3 p.m. The real PIAA Class AAA Team Duals championship was actually at 11 a.m. as CD and CM, both ranked in the top 7 nationally, locked horns on Mat 3 of the Giant Center. And it was an epic battle of scholastic heavyweights that people were still talking about three hours later.
Honestly, they will probably talk about it for years to come. It was definitely the thrill of victory and agony of defeat. It couldn’t get any more even. The bouts were split seven a piece. Each side had No. 1 ranked wrestlers in the nation. There were swings of momentum.
CM jumped out to a nice lead, thanks to pins by Andrew Alton, Dylan Alton, Tyler Buckwalter and must-wins by Cody Dolan and Corl in the upperweight bouts. But the Rams dominated in the light weights, and following a first-period pin by Tyler Buckman at 130, CD had a 35-24 lead.
"I knew where we needed to win, and I knew it would come down to bonus points," Doug Buckwalter said. "Each match, each guy had to fight as hard as they could. It was close, and it came down to one inch. And that one inch was the difference.
"Their last two guys are young, but pretty good. When you have a guy that is avoiding the pin, it makes it hard. Jordan and Brian had to push and look for anything for the big points. You can’t take away from the effort that Jordan and Brian gave."
Rich sent energy waves rippling through the Giant Center when he caught Central Dauphin’s Colton Peppelman for a third-period pin.
The lead was down to 35-30 as Rich ran off the mat and was lifted into the air by teammates, especially Dolan, who threw the 135-pounder in the air as the CM faithful in attendance blew the roof off the building.
Brill got a few slaps on the back from his teammates and ran to the mat.
"If A.J. gets pinned, they win. If it’s a technical fall, we crunched the numbers and they would have won on criteria," Jeff Sweigard said. "I knew it was coming down to 135 and 140, and how many bonus points we were going to give up. Colton wrestled well with Rich, but he made a mistake and he got pinned."
With both sides screaming and yelling, Brill took a 2-0 lead after the first period. A.J. Sweigard took neutral to start the second, and the CM sophomore hit a massive, tight headlock 30 seconds in. The Ram fought off his back for almost the remainder of the period, as Brill led 5-0 with two minutes left.
Sweigard managed to keep away from any mistakes in the third as Brill picked up the 10-1 major. As for the possible heavyweight clash between CD’s Marshall Peppelman and CM’s Dylan Alton, it never came to fruition.
Peppelman was bumped up to 171, while Alton got a quick pin in his 160-pound bout. Peppelman got a good battle from CM freshman Blaze Buckwalter before hitting a cement mixer for a three-minute pin.
"I hated to bump away from Alton, but you have to look at it from a team standpoint," the CD head coach said. "I was counting on Wolfe to beat Dolan, but when he didn’t, I thought it was going to come down to the end. That was a big win for them."
Tom Fox is sports editor at The Lock Haven (Pa.) Express. He can be reached at tfox@lockhaven.com.
