Becahi’s Rath beats close friend in tie-breaker for gold
NEWARK, Del. — Kollin Rath stepped onto the Bob Carpenter Center championship mat Sunday afternoon and came face to face with close friend and year-round training partner Collin Gaj.
The Bethlehem Catholic junior and Quakertown junior know each other all too well.
Their first high school meeting two years ago, a 3-1 Rath win in overtime at the PIAA Wrestling Championships, proved that.
Sunday’s meeting in the 31st annual Beast of the East 150-pound final took it to another level.
Rath tried every trick in the book to get out from bottom in the third period to tie the match. He was awarded the escape after referees’ discussion, then got an escape in the tie-breaker to win his second consecutive Beast title.
“We know each other’s style better than our anyone else,” Rath said, “better than we know our own. I had to come up with new things and wait for the other to take that shot for the action to start.”
There was plenty of action in the third period despite the lack of scoring. Gaj, who won his 100th career match in the semifinals, quickly escaped to start the second for a 1-0 lead.
The Virginia Tech-bound junior then countered everything Rath had in the third period. The two rolled and flopped around with Gaj never letting his Missouri-bound buddy escape his grasp.
Rath’s last attempt in regulation almost netted a reversal near the edge of the mat, but Gaj funked his way into maintaining contact with Rath and seemingly hanging on for the win.
But after the match official conferred with the outside official, Rath received the escape to force overtime.
“Collin is a great wrestler on top,” Rath said of the frantic third period. “I knew it was going to take something to throw him off, get my hips separated and see what happens from there. There were a couple times I thought I got out and he got back on top of me, and I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh. I’ve got to do this again.’ ”
Neither friend got in a quality shot in the 30-second overtime before Rath rode out Gaj for 30 seconds. Rath then escaped with 23 seconds left in the tie-breaker and fought off a couple Gaj shot attempts to win.
“That was the longest 23 seconds of my life,” Rath said. “I heard the ref say there were 10 seconds left. I was thinking there’s no way that was only 13 seconds.”
There is a chance the two could meet up twice more this season — at the Escape the Rock tournament in January at Council Rock South, where both are returning champions, and at the PIAA Wrestling Championships in March in Hershey.
It would be a treat for the fans. Rath and Gaj have discussed, but after both felt like they were going to be sick after facing each other Sunday, perhaps one changes weight classes to avoid such painful excitement the rest of this season.
“I don’t want to do this again,” Rath said. “It’s too hard.”
Ayden Smith knew all too well how hard it is to win a major in-season tournament. The Notre Dame-Green Pond senior finally broke through Sunday with the 113-pound title thanks to a 5-3 decision in the final.
It comes after a third-place finish at last weekend’s Ironman tournament.
“I thought last week was a little rough in the semis,” the Cornell commit said. “I could have wrestled better, but sometimes things don’t go my way. Taking that loss really fueled my fire, to really reach out and grab gold at all these tournaments.”
Smith was sharp and quick in all encounters with JoJo Uhorchuk of Signal Mountain, Tennessee. He stayed aggressive and left nothing to chance or officials’ calls.
Faith Christian freshman Joey Bachmann did not like his lack of aggression in the semis or final at 106 pounds, but his defense and counterattacks were solid enough for him to win his second consecutive tournament to start his varsity career.
Bachmann beat Cameron Sontz of Delbarton, New Jersey, 3-0 in the final to stay unbeaten in his young career. But the nation’s top-ranked 106-pounder knows there is work to be done.
“I liked how I did last week,” he said. “This week I didn’t attack like I believe I should, but I got the job done. Even though I wasn’t attacking, I only gave up one takedown, a silly takedown. I work on [my defense] all the time in the room. I put myself in bad positions, so I know when I get on the mat I don’t worry about that.”
Other medalists
Calvin Lachman rebounded from a quarterfinal loss to Nazareth’s Sean Kinney to win four in a row to take third at 285. His 7-2 overtime victory in the thirdplace match was the 100th of his career.
Kinney was second at 285 for a second time. He lost 3-2 to Blair Academy’s Carter Neves, thanks to a debatable stalling point.
Bethlehem Catholic’s Charlie Scanlan beat four ranked foes to finish second at 157 and take a step forward in his progression.
Returning champion Adam Waters of Faith Christian gave up a takedown with 15 seconds left to lose 4-2 in the 175-pound final. It was his third loss this season. He lost twice last week to finish fifth at Ironman. The sophomore had one loss all of last season.
Northampton’s Gabe Ballard bounced back from a momentary lapse that cost him in the round of 16 to win six matches in a row to take third at 113, capped by a 3-1 decision over Wyoming Seminary’s Niko Filipos.
Ballard’s defense was particularly sharp in the wrestlebacks.
Nazareth’s Tahir Parkins rebounded from a semifinal setback to take third at 138. Faith Christian’s Chase Hontz bounced back from a semifinal loss to Rath to take third at 150.
Notes
Faith Christian finished second (190.5 points) to Blair Academy (282.5) in the team race. The Lions, who had eight medalists, were third last season. Bethlehem Catholic was fifth (127) a year after finishing second to Delbarton (N.J.). Other local teams: Quakertown (12th, 89.5), Nazareth (17th, 77.5), Notre Dame-GP (tied 19th, 76), Northampton (27th, 59.5) and Saucon Valley (51st, 35.5). … Area officials Roger Gehring and Rick Solofsky worked the two-day event.