Chestnut Ridge-Berlin Recap

   It's been about 20 hours since Chestnut Ridge's 40-12 domination of Berlin in what was the anticipated top match of the season in District 5. Obviously, the Lions are the best team locally until further notice, given what they have done so far.
   I didn't leave the Berlin gymnasium until well after 9 p.m., so I had no time to go into any detail on here until now. My coverage was of course in today's Bedford Gazette. Here's a couple of thoughts I came away with:

   — Chestnut Ridge set the tone early and that is always a key in a big road match. I figured Derrick Claar would get bonus points, likely a pin as he did, in the opener at 138 pounds. But next at 145, I favored Berlin's Kane McKenzie over Chestnut Ridge's Levi Hobson. Hobson, a freshman, had two nice takedowns in the first period, then rode the senior McKenzie out in the second and held him off for a 4-3 decision. Given the fact that the Lions are loaded and also welcomed highly touted Justin McCoy to varsity this year, Hobson may have been overlooked as one of the projected starters. He'll be someone to keep an eye on as we move forward.

   — At heavyweight, Chestnut Ridge secured another big win with Shane Davis taking an 8-4 victory from Anthony Collins. Each wrestler was coming off a surprising loss, Davis to Everett's Kyle Peterson, and Collins to Shade's Trevor Brown. A takedown and nearfall in the second period for Davis made the difference in what appears to be a heavyweight class that will be interesting at the district tournament. Davis, Collins, Brown, Peterson, Bedford's Nate Shoemaker and maybe others could be contenders.

   — The Lions won the takedown battle, 25-12, and led in nearfall points, 31-11.