Key makes its points in 55-11 romp South Carroll can't capture close bouts against Eagles

A tight match was expected last night when South Carroll visited county rival Francis Scott Key in Uniontown.

It never happened.

Why?

Because all the could-go-either-way bouts went one way -- to the No. 14 Eagles.

There were a number of them, particularly early on when Francis Scott Key took control and never lost it, cruising to a 51-11 win over the Cavaliers (8-3).

Ronnie Howard (112) and Mark Mandell (119) set the tone for the Eagles and exemplified the kind of night it would turn out to be.

Howard trailed 1-0 to South Carroll's Kevin Clark in the final minute of the third period before coming back. An escape with 36 seconds left tied the match and he scored a takedown with two back points with two seconds left to come away with a 5-1 decision.

Mandell followed with a 2-1 decision over veteran Tim Hymiller, getting a first-period takedown and then holding on.

South Carroll coach Pete Olson and Key coach Bill Hyson both were quick to mention those two matches as being pivotal.

"Big, big, big. We win those, they don't steam-roll us," said Olson.

Said Mandell: "We got our own little group with Clint [Day], Ronnie and I. We really push each other in practice every day, and it's all starting to come together."

Day kept things rolling with a pin over Scott Wachter at 125 to give the Eagles an 18-0 lead. They took the first seven matches, building a 33-0 lead before South Carroll's Mike Muller came away with a pin over Tim Beale at 145.

By then, the damage seemeddone, but more was on the way.

Key's Billy Null clinched the match with a pin over Josh Elder at 152. Brett Cowan (160) followed with a solid 2-0 decision over Jason Hamper, getting a late third-period reversal for the only points of the match.

"Going into it, you try not to wrestle the match ahead of time, but there was a lot of real tight matches," said Hyson. "We were tough on our feet and scored some big takedowns to win those tight matches."

After an uncharacteristic 3-3 start, the Eagles are now at 7-3. "We've improved a lot in practice, and it's starting to reflect on the mat," Hyson said.

One downside for the Eagles was at heavyweight. Key's Mark Plank injured an ankle against South Carroll's Tom Crown, who won with a first-period pin.

Pub Date: 1/22/97