The Terrier senior 182-pounder launched Thursday's defeat of Hackettstown with a key pin. When Hackettstown’s Max Lake took the bottom position for the second period of his 182-pound bout against Delaware Valley senior Matt Meehan in Thursday night’s independent wrestling match, the Tiger might not have known what he was in for. After all, the first period had been scoreless,...
The Terrier senior 182-pounder launched Thursday's defeat of Hackettstown with a key pin.
When Hackettstown’s Max Lake took the bottom position for the second period of his 182-pound bout against Delaware Valley senior Matt Meehan in Thursday night’s independent wrestling match, the Tiger might not have known what he was in for.
After all, the first period had been scoreless, without any sign of any advantage for either wrestler, and Lake could have been excused if he thought the bout was heading for a 2-1 snoozer or the like.
Until Meehan made his move.
With his move.
“I wouldn’t say I knew I was going to able to turn him,” said Meehan, a pleasantly modest two-sport athlete who was also a guard for the Terriers’ successful football team. “But I got a half-nelson in and that is what I like to do.”
That became obvious quickly.
Once Meehan got the half he wanted he wasted no time and pinned Lake 30 seconds into the second period. The fall, in the evening’s third bout, erased a Hackettstown lead, put the hosts ahead to stay and launched the Terriers (4-2) to a 51-14 triumph in their first meeting with Hackettstown (3-3) since 2010.
In fact, while four more falls came for Delaware Valley, it was Meehan’s that changed the emotional tone of the match and fired up the home crowd.
“I saw all the people standing and cheering when I got the pin,” Meehan said.
Meehan’s win evened his record at 5-5 on the season, but he said he wasn’t certain if he had made much improvement.
“I just go and wrestle as hard as I can,” he said. “I don’t really know if I am better than last season.”
Delaware Valley coach Andy Fitz did.
“Matt is much-improved,” Fitz said. “He did all our summer program and lived in the weight room.”
There are a couple of sources of Meehan’s improvement. One is his other sport.
“In football you get a lot stronger and that helps in wrestling,” he said. “And wrestling helps my footwork for football.”
The other would be his practice partner, the Terriers’ senior 195-pound Region 5 qualifier Kyle Schlittler.
“I wrestle Kyle every day in practice,” Meehan said. “He kicks my butt a lot.”
That’s getting better the hard way, but it’s a time-proven method in wrestling – a spot Schlittler introduced Meehan to.
“Kyle got me to come out for wrestling in eighth grade; I have been wrestling for just five years,” Meehan said. “I am glad Kyle got me out for the sport.”
So is everyone at Delaware Valley after Meehan’s big pin Thursday.
Brad Wilson may be reached at bwilson@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradwsports. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.