When River Hill's Ryan Erskine stepped on the scale during the 152-pound weigh ins and clocked in at 148.9 pounds, under the 149 pound limit set for the 145-pound weight class, Glenelg coach Matt Bichner noticed right away a discrepancy that would change the outcome of the biggest wrestling rivalry in the county.
Based on the rulebook, Erskine was technically ineligible to wrestle at 145 pounds. He could only compete at 152 pounds because the weigh-in for 145-pounds had already closed.
So when Erskine stepped on the mat and checked into the head table for the 145-pound match against the Gladiator's Parker Griffie, Bichner pulled the referee aside.
After a long discussion with the referee and River Hill coach Brandon Lauer, Griffie was awarded a forfeit, and Erskine was declared ineligible to compete that match or the 152-pound bout because he had already checked in at the head table.
That outcome, along with Glenelg (8-0, 18-7) winning most of the swing matches, made the difference in a 35-33 win that keeps their undefeated county dual season alive.
"I'm a little shaky. After the last two years and the way it came down to the last match, this is obviously a pretty awesome feeling," said Bichner. "Obviously, the big story will probably be the roster, line up moves, but we knew what happened at weigh ins and we were prepared if they did that to go to the head table. I don't like seeing it come down to that, but hopefully they will make it to regional duals and we'll get another match because there were a lot of good matches.
"At weigh ins, basically after the 145-pound weight class was closed, after everybody weighed in, their 152-pounder Erskine weighed low – he made 145. So, in the rulebook, once the weight closes ... if a guy weighs in at 130 pounds he can't weigh in with the 160's and then wrestle 132."
Lauer said he spoke with the referee before the match about the situation, but got a different answer.
"I asked the referee specifically at the skin check if he was eligible to wrestle 145. He told me 'yes,' that's why I sent him out. That's where the confusion was," Lauer said. "It was my fault for not knowing the rules all the way through. 145 should have been closed, it should have been Tyler Bond out there instead of Erskine, we forfeit, and, as you can see, the result was what the result was. ... It sucks because the kids have to suffer because of me making a mistake like that."
Even with the forfeit, it wasn't the only deciding factor in the tightly contested dual.
Glenelg's Collin Silk had lost three matches last season to River Hill's Alex Potts, and it was clear he was seeking revenge. Silk controlled the match, earning his vengeance and a 5-0 decision that gave the Gladiators a 8-6 lead.
In the next match, Glenelg's 126-pounder Sam Kraus trailed the Hawks' Nathan Dustin 4-0 in the waning seconds of the third period, but executed a Peterson roll to earn a reversal and two near-fall points to force overtime.
In the extra session, Kraus earned the takedown and added three more near-fall points to take the match 9-4 and extend the lead to 11-6.
"I know (Collin) wanted to get that win, so I was happy to see him do it," Bichner said. "Him and Kraus, a lot of things went our way in this match."
After River Hill's Andrew Mahoney earned an overtime decision at 132-pounds and Glenelg's Garrett Murray pinned his opponent at 138, the discrepancy played out. The forfeit gave the Gladiators a 23-9 lead, but the Hawks (5-2, 19-6) seemed far from beaten with some of their best wrestlers waiting their turn.
A decision from Tyler Bond at 152-pounds was followed by a first period pin for Glenelg's Mike Budock at 160 pounds, which pushed the lead to 17 with only five matches remaining.
The Hawks won three straight matches – a decision, a pin and a forfeit – to cut the lead 29-27, but the Gladiators' most experienced wrestler – Austin Twigg – closed the door on any chance of a comeback with a 31 second pin at 220 pounds.
"It's finally good to get the one his senior year and have (Austin) do it on his own terms is pretty good. Twigg just went out there and took care of business," Bichner said. "Hopefully that will give us confidence to keep going ... it sets up a pretty good match on Wednesday against Oakland Mills."
Glenelg 35, River Hill 33
106: Matt Shealy (RH) fft; (0-6)
113: Logan Gwin (G) tech fall Gabe Vinyard (RH) 16-0; (5-6)
120: Collin Silk (G) dec. Alex Potts (RH) 5-0; (8-6)
126: Sam Kraus (G) dec. Nathan Dustin (RH) 9-4 OT; (11-6)
132: Andrew Mahoney (RH) dec. Griffin Peterman (G) 6-2 OT; (11-9)
138: Garrett Murray (G) pinned Colin Altman (RH) 3:34; (17-9)
145: Parker Griffie (G) fft; (23-9)
152: Tyler Bond (RH) dec. Jason Mitchell (G) 9-3; (23-12)
160: Michael Budock (G) pinned Ryan Benedek (RH) 1:17; (29-12)
170: Sean Guthier (RH) dec. Max Sotka (G) 10-5; (29-15)
182: Brady Daniel (RH) pinned Robbie Baxter (G) 0:27; (29-21)
195: Brent Essman (RH) fft; (29-27)
220: Austin Twigg (G) pinned Bebe Kum (RH) 0:31; (35-27)
285: Brian Kirby (RH) pinned Jamie Cooch (G) 2:33; (35-33)
Other scores:
Reservoir 77, Wilde Lake 6
106: Reese Kilcarr (Re) fft; (6-0)
113: Dalton Kleinhen (Re) pinned Sybek (WL) 0:22; (12-0)
120: Connor Tayman (Re) fft; (18-0)
126: Hayoung Park (Re) tech fall Kazi (WL) 2:29; (23-0)
132: Troy Kilcarr (Re) fft; (29-0)
138: Trent Kilcarr (Re) pinned Kazi (WL) 1:47; (35-0)
145: Todd Del Tufo (Re) pinned McGruden (WL) 3:34; (41-0)
152: Max Reed (Re) pinned McGruden (WL) 2:58; (47-0)
160: Ernie Fermin (WL) fft; (47-6)
170: Stephen Sims (Re) pinned Roland (WL); (53-6)
182: Ben Howe (Re) fft; (59-6)
195: Shawn Hamitlon (Re) fft; (65-6)
220: Tyler Ecker (Re) fft; (71-6)
285: Andrew Maleta (Re) fft; (77-6)
Centennial 45, Atholton 30
Mt. Hebron 60, Hammond 16