Lancers’ Baker last man standing in Class AAA tourney

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March 12, 2010

By T.J. Turrisi The Meadville Tribune Fri Mar 12, 2010, 11:05 PM EST

March 13, 2010 — HERSHEY — At the end of the week, Baker saved the day.

While Friday was unkind to Meadville, General McLane junior heavyweight Caleb Baker ensured himself a medal with a 5-1 quarterfinal decision win over Springfield’s big bruiser Dave Dewan.

“It’s a good feeling, but I am not going to stop there,” Baker said. “I am going to keep going.”

Baker faces defending PIAA heavyweight champ Evan Craig of Abington Heights in the championship semifinals today. The Class AAA semis begin at 8 a.m.

In his match against Dewan, Baker built a 3-0 lead in the second period with an escape and a takedown. Dewan got to neutral to make it 3-1 in the third, but Baker tacked on another takedown at the end of regulation.

Dewan’s game was using his big frame to try to overpower Baker with underhooks and tosses. But Baker and the McLane coaching staff had already devised a plan to counter.

“We watched video on the kid, and we knew he was tough with his underhooks,” McLane head coach Ryan Cook said. “Caleb did a good job of pinching him. Caleb’s got that low center of gravity, and it’s hard to get underneath him.”

Lancer assistant Bill Frick is Baker’s practice partner, and the look on his face, as he hurriedly made phone calls back to Edinboro to announce the good news, said it all.

“It’s been fun,” Frick said. “I am pretty much speechless right now. I’m very happy for him. He works his butt off. He and I wrestle every day and beat on each other. I am keeping Advil in business.”

After coming back from a near-fall in his opening match Thursday and taking this win over Dewan, there is no doubt Baker heads into the semis without worry.

“That’s one thing that he always has going for him is his confidence,” Cook said. “I was surprised after yesterday’s match where he went to his back and then came back from it. He’s got a big heart, that kid.”

“He’s a very deceiving kid,” Frick said. “People see him and say he doesn’t look like much. But he’s got a lot of tools in his tool bucket.”

Baker was eliminated from state tourney contention with a 2-1 loss to Stephen King of Lewistown in the northwest region consolation finals last year. He received a little surprise push from coach Cook at regionals this year when Cook showed him the bout sheet from the King match.

“It motivated me to train harder and also showed me what I was capable of doing this year,” Baker said.

Baker, a former sophomore national freestyle champion, is currently holding a 39-6 record. Craig is 48-0 with back-to-back falls in Hershey this week.

Meadville’s Shelton Mack and Zach Towers went 0-2 Friday, falling in the quarterfinals and second-round consolations.

Mack, a senior 119-pounder, picked the wrong time to fix his head gear in the quarters.

Derrick Nelson of Waynesburg Central took Mack’s leg and eventually locked a cradle for a 4-2 lead in the second period.

Mack knotted the score at 4-all with a double-leg after choosing neutral in the third stanza, but cut Nelson loose to try to get another quick two to make it 5-4.

In the waning seconds Nelson tacked on another two with a throw-by, scoring on a frantic flurry by Mack coming out of an injury timeout with just 10 ticks left in the match.

In his consy match, Mack was outmatched on his feet, getting taken down twice in the third period. Red Lion’s Dylan Nguyen also worked a set of tilts for five back points in the second period of a 10-4 decision.

Mack finished his career with three District 10 and northwest region titles and a 2009-10 record of 38-3. He also won his first PIAA tourney match Thursday.

Sophomore Towers (152) fell too far behind against Kiski Area’s Zack Shannon in the quarterfinal round. Shannon took an 8-2 lead with an underhook throw for five points.

Shannon won the match 10-4 after an added takedown with a body lock and trip with 29 seconds remaining in the match.

Towers then faced Will Resnick of Penncrest in the consolation bracket and was again the victim of the near-fall in a 10-7 loss.

Resnick worked a bar tilt for three back points in the second frame and added another two back points by taking Towers down to his back later in the period.

Towers closed his season with a 36-5 mark, a second D-10 title and a runner-up performance at regionals.

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Lancers’ Baker last man standing in Class AAA tourney

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