It happened a year later than they would have really liked, but Reservoir’s 42-16 win Tuesday night over defending county champion River Hill was sweet all the same.

“This is the team that took our county championship away from us last year, so we wanted to come back this year and show them that we’re going to beat them and come out on top,” senior 119-pounder Danny Poore said.

Poore defeated rival Cameron Kirby, 10-6, to give the Gators a 24-6 lead at River Hill.

Last February, River Hill bested Reservoir, 33-30, in a battle of undefeated teams that ultimately decided the dual-meet county champion. It was Reservoir’s first loss of the season, after a 20-0 start.

“They got the pins and they won the close ones (last year),” Reservoir coach Ryan Kanaskie said. “We won 10 matches against, in my opinion, a top 10 team in the state. There aren’t many times that you’re going to do that, so you’ve got to be happy.

“But we’ve still got to do a lot of work to get back in the regional duals, so we’ll be back at it tomorrow.”

River Hill graduated one of its best senior classes ever, but coach Brandon Lauer refused to reminisce about the past.

“No, we’re a program that isn’t hurt by graduation. We’re a program that continually sets the bar high and tries to achieve our goals. Yeah, we lost good wrestlers, but we don’t look at it as a rebuilding process,” Lauer said.

River Hill won close decisions by Michael Adadevoh (189) and Brandon Barnes (285), a major decision by regional champion Evan Shebel (140) and a pin by Nick Connelly (135).

Reservoir won the other 10 matches, including first-period pins by Sean Quinn (215), Brian Clinton (103), Josh Knox (112) and Mark Colabucci (152).

“Giving up pins and bonus points, when you’ve got two competitive teams going at it, that’s what it comes down to,” Lauer said.

Quinn’s pin, which came only 36 seconds into the first period, gave Reservoir a 9-3 lead that it didn't relinquish.

“That was a big six (points),” Poore said. “It definitely got us all motivated and fired up to do work.”

Clinton, a senior, had been stuck on JV behind more experienced wrestlers, but is getting his chance to help out on the front line.

“I won (last year’s JV county title) ... so I just worked in the offseason, just trying to get better, and I ended up coming in and found my spot. I got there,” said Clinton. “I wanted to be in that lineup bad.”

Clinton’s win set off a five-match Gators’ streak that ended with a Bubba Mullens decision and a nearly insurmountable 30-6 lead.

Robby Greer’s decision at 145 mathematically clinched the win with two bouts remaining.

Reservoir and River Hill are 3-1 in the county. Glenelg, at 4-0,  has gained the inside track to the county title.

171: Taylor Sims (Re) dec. Kyle Murrow (RH), 5-1. [3-0]
189: Michael Adadevoh (RH) dec. Jase Zester (Re), 5-3. [3-3]
215: Sean Quinn (Re) p. Jacob Benedict (RH), :36. [9-3]
285: Brandon Barnes (RH) dec. Josh Hamilton (Re), 5-3. [9-6]
103: Brian Clinton (Re) p. Taariq Mohammed (RH), 1:26. [15-6]
112: Josh Knox (Re) p. Patrick Linden (RH), :57. [21-6]
119: Danny Poore (Re) dec. Cameron Kirby (RH), 10-6. [24-6]
125: Seth Rowell (Re) dec. Ryan Blum (RH), 9-2. [27-6]
130: Bubba Mullens (Re) dec. Nick Oliver (RH), 7-6. [30-6]
135: Nick Connelly (RH) p. Ramin Ziaee (Re). 5:34. [30-12]
140: Evan Shebel (RH) md. David Kuper (Re), 10-2. [30-16]
145: Robby Greer (Re) dec. Jack Noonan (RH), 9-8. [33-16]
152: Mark Colabucci (Re) p. Ryan Noonan (RH), 1:48. [39-16]
160: Michael Mullens (Re) dec. Arvind Stone (RH), 1-0. [42-16]

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