CHAMBERSBURG — It would be pretty difficult to script the way the 8th MyHOUSE Trojan Wars Tournament ended Friday night at CASHS Field House.

The 145-pound championship was the final bout of the event, and what a match it was.

South Carroll’s Mike Pizzuto, who had won the first 115 matches of his high school career, faced Beast of the East champion Patrick Jordon of New Kent and Pizzuto appeared to be in control of a well-wrestled bout, leading 3-1.

But in the final 10 seconds, Jordon got inside Pizzuto’s defenses from his feet, tripped him to his back and got two more points for a nearfall to rally and steal a 5-3 victory while the large crowd exploded.

Zach Evans

It capped a two-day marathon of wrestling, run by the Chambersburg Wrestling Booster Club.

Despite the loss by Pizzuto in the final, South Carroll had already wrapped up the team championship when Gage Owen won at 139 pounds in the previous match. The Cavaliers ended up edging Warrior Run by four points.

The hosts, Chambersburg, ended up in fourth place with 146.5 points, after leading after the first day. Unfortunately, the Trojans lost two wrestlers to injury and another by sickness, and that hurt their scoring opportunities.

Zach Evans was Chambersburg’s lone representative in the finals and he came through with a 3-1 victory over defending champion Tucker Paynter of Trinity at 215 pounds.

Evans, who was 5-0 with three pins and a major decision, escaped in the second period for a 1-0 lead, then he forced a stalling point against Paynter to lead 2-0 after two. In the third, Evans was awarded another stalling point, then allowed an escape with 40 seconds left for the 3-1 verdict.

The Trojans had two other placewinners — Luke Mentzer took third in a difficult 127 weight class (he was seeded No. 11) by going 5-1 with two pins and two majors, and Rylan Carter was sixth at 121.

Shippensburg’s Dom Frontino won an exciting finals bout at 160, taking a 4-3 decision over defending champion A.J. Rodrigues of South Carroll.

Rodrigues took a 2-0 lead, but it was 2-1 after the first. Tied 2-2 in the second, Frontino got in deep on a shot and despite a vigorous counter attempt by Rodrigues, was awarded two points for a takedown when they hit the mat for a 4-2 edge.

Frontino used a conservative third period and a good ride to hold off Rodrigues in the end.

NOTES: The 2023 Trojan Wars will be held Dec. 29-30 … Out of state teams (1 each for Maryland and West Virginia and four by Virginia) captured 6 of the 13 individual titles … 19 of the 49 varsity teams had at least one wrestler in the finals.

MyHOUSE Trojan Wars Tournament
Team Scoring
1.South Carroll, Md. 162; 2.Warrior Run 158; 3.West Perry 151.5; 4.Chambersburg 146.5; 5.Bald Eagle Area 139.5; 6.St. Christopher’s, Va. 125; 7.Perkiomen Valley 118.5; 8.New Kent, Va. 117; 9.Spring Mills, WV 115.5; 10.Gettysburg 110.5; 26.Shippensburg 69; 48.Mercersburg Academy 33.

Chambersburg Results
107 — Ben Hoover 3-2, 2 pins, 1 TF
114 — Zach Sherman 2-2, 1 pin, 1 md
121 — Rylan Carter, 3-3, 6th place
127 — Luke Mentzer 5-1, 2 pins, 2 md, 3rd place
133 — Ashton Romberger 4-2, 3 pins
139 — Logan Mickey 2-0
145 — Tyler Frye 1-2, 1 md
152 — Noah Valentine, 0-2
160 — Ivan Mixell 1-2, 1 md
171 — Jaccob Stoner 3-2, 3 pins
189 — Aiden Hight 2-0, 1 pin, 1 default
215 — Zach Evans, 5-0, 3 pins, 1 md
285 — Avery Kuhns, 1-1, 1 pin