Published: February 23, 2008 11:55 pm         

Southern takes Bi-County title, Rams’ Ozias wins, now 33-0

CUMBERLAND — Southern wrestlers took first place in half of the 14 weight classes Saturday during the Bi-County Wrestling Tournament at Fort Hill, and the Rams outpaced Mountain Ridge to win by three points in their first time back on the mat since losing for the first time all season last weekend.

Southern finished Saturday with a total of 214.5 points, while the Miners wound up with 211.5. Northern was third at 118.5, while Fort Hill was fourth at 104 and Allegany scored 37 points to finish fifth.

Southern’s Lex Ozias improved his season record to 33-0 by grabbing first place in the 112-pound division. The Rams took first in four of the first five divisions, starting with Matthew Armstrong winning the 103. George Scheffel moved to 32-1 by winning the 125-pound class, and Jakob Scheffel won the 130 class to move to 32-3.

Jordan Skipper (145), Nick Farmer (171) and Sean Sisler (285) also won individual championships for Southern.

Mountain Ridge had four wrestlers win weight classes, led by undefeated Stephen Whetstone in the 140. Whetstone’s mark now sits at 35-0. Also winning for the Miners were Aaron Patterson (135), Nathan Payne (189) and Noah DeVore (215). DeVore has suffered just one loss this season and is 34-1.

Third-place Northern grabbed the remaining three class winners, including a pair of 29-2 grapplers in Dustin Stough and Andy Ganoe. Ganoe won the 152-pound division, while Stough won in 160. Josh Duckworth was the 119 winner.

Mountain Ridge had the most second-pace finishers with seven, which was five more than Southern, Northern and Fort Hill. Fort Hill led in third place finishes with six, while the Huskies, the Sentinels and the Campers all had four fourth-place finishes.

The complete list of the top-four finishers in each weight class can be found in today’s Scoreboard section on 4D.