That third and final spot was locked up by Greenville, which topped Ike 44-30 in the third place match. Nevertheless, there is still plenty to celebrate and plenty of season left.

“I’m proud of them,” said Eisenhower coach Kris Black. “I thought they wrestled well. The tank was real close to empty and we were running on fumes there at the end. That last match could have gone either way.

To get to that point, the Knights had to beat Conneaut in the quarterfinal round. After a slow start, they were able to do just that in a 36-30 triumph.

Starting at 126, the Knights got on the board first courtesy of a 10-7 decision by Josh Bortz over Josh Anderson.

Eisenhower’s Spencer Head executes a single leg takedown against Reynolds’ Jordan DeCarmen during their 152-pound match at the District 10 Class 2A semifinals on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018 at Sharon High School.

They trailed 15-9, however, going into the 170 pound match, with the only other win coming from Spencer Head via forfeit at 152.

Ethan Chambers stepped to the mat and delivered the spark they needed.

Chambers led 2-0 after the first period against Jesse Orr, then scored a pair of takedowns, before getting Orr to his back and pinning him with 40 seconds left in the second.

“Ethan was a spark for us,” Black said. “He was a little aggressive at points in time in the match, but he got us going. He got us fired up and the guys fed off that. Coming back around we did a pretty good job of finding a way to get a win.”

Matt Huling dominated his match at 195, earning a first period pin and the Knights also got a forfeit win at 220.

Times Observer photo by Andy Close Eisenhower’s Alex Barnett attempts to get Reynolds’ Hunter Thompson in a headlock during their 160-pound match in the District 10 Class 2A semifinals on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018 at Sharon High School. Barnett earned a 14-9 decision.

Coming back around, like they have done so many times this season, the combination of Ethan Hedman and Logan Jaquay helped put the match away for the Knights.

Hedman scored a first period takedown of Brady Gould and was in control throughout, earning a 4-0 decision.

Jaquay, meanwhile, needed just 57 seconds to earn a fall against Henry Piatt and clinch the match for the Knights.

“We started off slow, but found a way,” Black said. “That’s kind of been our motto all year.”

What followed after a break of over four hours was a date with defending state champ and current No. 1 ranked team in the state, Reynolds, which was a 51-15 winner over Fort LeBoeuf in the quarterfinals.

And while the 52-12 score might not be a good indicator, the Knights were able to battle and compete.

The No. 2 ranked wrestler in D-10 at 145 and eighth in the state, Hunter Michales, squared off with Garrett Head, the fifth ranked wrestler in D-10 at that weight class.

After a scoreless first period, Michaels, starting from the down position, was able to earn an escape point and takedown later in the period made it 3-0.

It was 5-0, but Head was able to get on the board at 5-2 before Michaels earned another escape point and a 6-2 victory.

Spencer Head stepped up at 152 and got the Knights on the board.

He was in complete command against Mason Wilkerson, leading 4-1 after the first period and 9-1 in the third before he turned Wilkerson on his back for a pin.

Alex Barnett followed with perhaps the most exciting bout of the match.

Barnett dominated Hunter Thompson, leading 4-1 lead after the first period and built that to 8-1 in the second. In a match that featured a ton of scoring, Thompson came roaring back, ultimately tying the match 9-9, before a takedown sparked Barnett to a 14-9 decision.

“Those are the types of matches you want to wrestle,” Black said. “Our guys in the Reynolds match really fought. The score was lopsided, but there were some really competitive matches. Even some of the one’s that we lost. Our guys didn’t back down, and that’s what we wanted to see out of them. They weren’t afraid of it, they weren’t intimidated by it and I was proud of them for that.”

Matt Huling lost a close match to Jarod Miller at 195, 5-4, and, in a battle of the top two wrestler in their weight class in the district, Gary Steen edegd Jaquay 6-4 at 106.

Joey Bauer had the other win for the Knights, registering a first period takedown en route to a 3-1 decision over Wyatt Owen.

It was a tall order against a Reynolds team that features the likes of former individual state champions such as Cole Matthews, a Pitt commit, as well as Beau Bayless, among others.

Nevertheless, the Knights still had a chance to get into the state field in their third place match against Greenville.

Sam Holt got them off to a strong start, with a first period fall against Mikel Heverly.

Black went with a bump to his lineup, moving Garrett Head up to 152, Spencer Head to 160 and Barnett to 170.

Garrett Head received a forfeit at 152 and Spencer went up against Josh Christner.

After a scoreless first period, Christner took the down position and was able to earn an escape point. That was the only scoring in the match, as Christner got the edge in a battle of two of the best in D-10. It was also his 100th career win.

“Against Greenville, I made a decision to make a bump,” Black noted. “If I had to do it again, I’d probably do the same thing because it was the right choice for us to win. Spencer’s one of our better guys and I really didn’t want him to get a forfeit at 152. I thought bumping him up to 160 and Alex up to 170 would be the smart choice. It backfired a little bit, but hindsight is always 20-20.”

That started a string of six straight matches won for the Trojans, essentially wrapping it up.

Jaquay earned a first period pin at 113 and Nate Holt received a forfeit at 132 in what ended up being a 44-30 final.

“I don’t want to make excuses, but it was a long week with our guys being sick and all the cold and flu stuff,” Black said. “We just ran out of gas at the end.”

Reynolds went on to be Harbor Creek in the final, 46-21.

Habor Creek will host McGuffey and Greenville will travel to Huntingdon, both on Monday, with Reynolds automatically going to Hershey.

Now the focus for Eisenhower turns to a county match against Warren on Thursday before entering the individual postseason, beginning with sectionals on Feb. 16-17 at Union City.

“Now we have to focus on the Warren match which is Thursday, which is always a competitive match. Warren always wrestles hard,” said Black. “And then it’s postseason after that.”

– – –

EISENHOWER 36, CONNEAUT 30

126: Bortz (E) d Anderson 10-7

132: Davenport (C) p N.Holt 5:11

138: Ellis (C) d S.Holt 3-2

145: Laird (C) d G.Head 7-5

152: S.Head (E) by forfeit

160: Hearn (C) d Barnett 6-3

170: Chambers (E) p Orr 3:20

182: Tursky (C) d Hagberg 7-2

195: Huling (E) p Gerber 1:24

220: Bauer (E) by forfeit

285: Bone (C) p B.Gourley 1:20

106: Hedman (E) d Gould 4-0

113: Jaquay (E) p Piatt :57

120: Loutzenhiser (C) p Williams 4:41

– – –

REYNOLDS 52, EISENHOWER 12

132: Bartolo (R) md N.Holt 16-3

138: Matthews (R) p S.Holt :46

145: Michaels (R) d G.Head 6-2

152: S. Head (E) p DeCarmen 4:23

160: Barnett (E) d Thompson 14-9

170: McCloskey (R) p Chambers 5:03

182: Toy (R) p Hagberg 1:45

195: J.Miller (R) d Huling 5-4

220: Bauer (E) d Owen 3-1

285: Skeehan (R) by forfeit

106: Steen (R) d Jaquay 6-4

113: Wilcox (R) by forfeit

120: B.Bayless (R) p Hedman :26

126: An.Ischo (R) md Bortz 15-3

– – –

GREENVILLE 44, EISENHOWER 30

138: S.Holt (E) p Heverly 1:03

145: Karpinski (G) p Anderson :51

152: G.Head (E) by forfeit

160: Christner (G) d S.Head 1-0

170: Br.Gentile (G) md Barnett 15-7

182: McClinton (G) d Hagberg 5-1

195: Calvin (G) p Huling 4:37

220: McMaster (G) md Bauer 12-2

285: Wilt (G) p B.Gourley 1:49

106: Hedman (E) p Bl.Knauf :34