"Canner Country salutes Coach Conover"
"CANNER SEND-OFF - - - Biglerville salutes Conover, then hammers Hanover"
BY JOSH MARTIN - Times Sports Editor
It was only fitting that Biglerville was one of the final stops on Terry Conover’s farewell tour.
After all, the original Canner Dome was the site of countless clashes between Hanover and Biglerville, plenty of which were contested with league, sectional and district championships hanging in the balance. Thursday’s match had none of that as the Nighthawks were struggling to reach the finish line while Biglerville was seeking a school record for wins in a season. The mismatch on paper translated to the mat, where the Canners administered a 57-14 thrashing.
While the old gym wasn’t too kind to Conover, the Canner fans were, giving the retiring coach a pair of standing ovations prior to the start of the match.
“There were some big matches, a lot of upsets and some great things happened here,” said Conover. “I’ve got an awful lot of good friends here at Biglerville, which a lot of people won’t believe, but I do. They appreciate competition and winning and losing. They understand what it’s all about.”
Biglerville coach Bob Gano addressed the crowd prior to the varsity match, congratulating Conover for his hall of fame career that will have spanned 800 matches when he coaches his final dual meet at a tournament Saturday in Altoona. Gano was pleased with the reaction from the Canner faithful, who saluted Conover for his achievements.
“Our fans were very, very respectful,” Gano said. “I think they recognize that it can be a bitter rivalry but that doesn’t mean that you don’t respect what somebody has done. I thought Canner Nation did a nice job with that tonight.”
The Canners (24-3, 9-1 YAIAA-2) did a nice job as well, capturing 10 of 14 bouts en route to establishing a new school record for wins. The 24 victories achieved this season surpasses the 23 wins posted last year.
The teams traded the first four bouts, with Hanover’s Brent Hoff (130) and Zach Wolford (140) getting wins to offset pins by Biglerville’s Tim Kint (125) and Nick Asper (135).
Wolford had to go the full six minutes to off hold Nic Lieberum in an entertaining 3-2 bout. Wolford (26-0) hit a dump for a takedown 21 seconds into the fray, which proved to be the difference.
The Canners claimed the next two weights, getting a fall from Logan Bobo and a 6-2 decision by Shay Shive, who bumped up to 152 to face Tylor Elder. Shive was able to take Elder down twice and control the bout from the top position, but wasn’t rewarded with any nearfall points for his efforts.
“(Elder) was very strong and we were giving up 10-12 pounds,” Gano said. “If it was later in the match, I don’t know if we would have made the move. I thought we had to do what we had to do at that point.”
James Leedy used a takedown in each period for a 9-1 major decision at 160 before Biglerville put the match on ice with falls from Dale Nichols (171), Danny Thomas (189) Jeff Foster (215), Brett Smyers (285) and Briar Garber (103).
Smyers needed just 25 seconds to put his opponent away, and Garber rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a pin against Hanover’s Brandon Hoff.
“Briar Garber, that was a real nice job for him,” Gano said.
Jacob Gerlach posted a 5-0 decision at 112, but it was too little, too late for the Nighthawks (12-14, 5-5 Y-2).
“We don’t have the depth and skill that we’ve had in the past,” said Conover, who has been forced to juggle lineups due to academic and disciplinary issues. “It’s pretty tough to wrestle good people and win. It’s tough to compete, let alone win.”
Nick Leiphart closed the books on the match with a fall at 119, giving the Canners extra momentum as they prepare for the District 3 Team Championships, which begin next Tuesday. Gano believes his squad will be ready after seeing the way it bounced back from Tuesday night’s blowout loss to Bermudian Springs.
“We got our tails kicked in Tuesday night,” he said. “In my world, the quickest way to put that to past is to do it to somebody else. So, I said ‘we’ll see how well they respond’, and it was good.”
Biglerville 57, Hanover 14
125-Tim Kint (B) p. Steven Laughman, 4:44; 130-Brent Hoff (H) md. Lee Starner, 14-1; 135-Nick Asper (B) p. Kevin Tamayo, 1:03; 140-Zach Wolford (H) d. Nic Lieberum, 3-2; 145-Logan Bobo (B) p. Alan Taulbee, 1:34; 152-Shay Shive (B) d. Tylor Elder, 6-2; 160-James Leedy (H) md. Seth Shive, 9-1; 171-Dale Nichols (B) p. Zach Wentz, 3:35; 189-Danny Thomas (B) p. Justin Edelin, 4:26; 215-Jeff Foster (B) p. Tyler Yohe, 2:41; 285-Brett Smyers (B) p. Bryan Ness, :25; 103-Briar Garber (B) p. Brandon Hoff, 2:55; 112-Jacob Gerlach (H) d. Jesse Gardner, 5-0; 119-Nick Leiphart (B) p. Nate Storm, 3:29.
After all, the original Canner Dome was the site of countless clashes between Hanover and Biglerville, plenty of which were contested with league, sectional and district championships hanging in the balance. Thursday’s match had none of that as the Nighthawks were struggling to reach the finish line while Biglerville was seeking a school record for wins in a season. The mismatch on paper translated to the mat, where the Canners administered a 57-14 thrashing.
While the old gym wasn’t too kind to Conover, the Canner fans were, giving the retiring coach a pair of standing ovations prior to the start of the match.
“There were some big matches, a lot of upsets and some great things happened here,” said Conover. “I’ve got an awful lot of good friends here at Biglerville, which a lot of people won’t believe, but I do. They appreciate competition and winning and losing. They understand what it’s all about.”
Biglerville coach Bob Gano addressed the crowd prior to the varsity match, congratulating Conover for his hall of fame career that will have spanned 800 matches when he coaches his final dual meet at a tournament Saturday in Altoona. Gano was pleased with the reaction from the Canner faithful, who saluted Conover for his achievements.
“Our fans were very, very respectful,” Gano said. “I think they recognize that it can be a bitter rivalry but that doesn’t mean that you don’t respect what somebody has done. I thought Canner Nation did a nice job with that tonight.”
The Canners (24-3, 9-1 YAIAA-2) did a nice job as well, capturing 10 of 14 bouts en route to establishing a new school record for wins. The 24 victories achieved this season surpasses the 23 wins posted last year.
The teams traded the first four bouts, with Hanover’s Brent Hoff (130) and Zach Wolford (140) getting wins to offset pins by Biglerville’s Tim Kint (125) and Nick Asper (135).
Wolford had to go the full six minutes to off hold Nic Lieberum in an entertaining 3-2 bout. Wolford (26-0) hit a dump for a takedown 21 seconds into the fray, which proved to be the difference.
The Canners claimed the next two weights, getting a fall from Logan Bobo and a 6-2 decision by Shay Shive, who bumped up to 152 to face Tylor Elder. Shive was able to take Elder down twice and control the bout from the top position, but wasn’t rewarded with any nearfall points for his efforts.
“(Elder) was very strong and we were giving up 10-12 pounds,” Gano said. “If it was later in the match, I don’t know if we would have made the move. I thought we had to do what we had to do at that point.”
James Leedy used a takedown in each period for a 9-1 major decision at 160 before Biglerville put the match on ice with falls from Dale Nichols (171), Danny Thomas (189) Jeff Foster (215), Brett Smyers (285) and Briar Garber (103).
Smyers needed just 25 seconds to put his opponent away, and Garber rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a pin against Hanover’s Brandon Hoff.
“Briar Garber, that was a real nice job for him,” Gano said.
Jacob Gerlach posted a 5-0 decision at 112, but it was too little, too late for the Nighthawks (12-14, 5-5 Y-2).
“We don’t have the depth and skill that we’ve had in the past,” said Conover, who has been forced to juggle lineups due to academic and disciplinary issues. “It’s pretty tough to wrestle good people and win. It’s tough to compete, let alone win.”
Nick Leiphart closed the books on the match with a fall at 119, giving the Canners extra momentum as they prepare for the District 3 Team Championships, which begin next Tuesday. Gano believes his squad will be ready after seeing the way it bounced back from Tuesday night’s blowout loss to Bermudian Springs.
“We got our tails kicked in Tuesday night,” he said. “In my world, the quickest way to put that to past is to do it to somebody else. So, I said ‘we’ll see how well they respond’, and it was good.”
Biglerville 57, Hanover 14
125-Tim Kint (B) p. Steven Laughman, 4:44; 130-Brent Hoff (H) md. Lee Starner, 14-1; 135-Nick Asper (B) p. Kevin Tamayo, 1:03; 140-Zach Wolford (H) d. Nic Lieberum, 3-2; 145-Logan Bobo (B) p. Alan Taulbee, 1:34; 152-Shay Shive (B) d. Tylor Elder, 6-2; 160-James Leedy (H) md. Seth Shive, 9-1; 171-Dale Nichols (B) p. Zach Wentz, 3:35; 189-Danny Thomas (B) p. Justin Edelin, 4:26; 215-Jeff Foster (B) p. Tyler Yohe, 2:41; 285-Brett Smyers (B) p. Bryan Ness, :25; 103-Briar Garber (B) p. Brandon Hoff, 2:55; 112-Jacob Gerlach (H) d. Jesse Gardner, 5-0; 119-Nick Leiphart (B) p. Nate Storm, 3:29.
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