At Springside Chestnut Hill Academy last Friday evening it was Senior Night for the Blue Devils' wrestling team, and the introductions of the departing grapplers took almost as long as the actual meet against visiting Episcopal Academy.

SCH forfeited matches in five weight classes (106, 138, 152, 182, 285), the Churchmen gave back six points with a forfeit at 126 lbs., and there was a double forfeit at 120. In addition, EA appeared to win the 195 lb. match, but that victory was later nullified because of a weight class violation.

That meant that the results in only six of the 14 weight categories were actually determined on the mat. Episcopal, with two pins and two decisions, won 48-24 over an SCH squad that secured two pins.

In terms of Inter-Ac League competition, both teams came into Friday's meet with victories over Germantown Academy. That had been the only league outing for the Churchmen, while the Blue Devils had lost to Haverford School and Malvern Prep.

Before the wrestling began, Springside Chestnut Hill bid adieu to seniors Joe Cassidy, Aden Goldberg, Mac Levin, R.J. Moore, Ben Rodgers, and Jack Sanderson.

After Episcopal gained an edge on the scoreboard as Daniel Hopkins accepted a forfeit by the hosts at 106 lbs., the meet score was tied at 6-6 with an SCH pin at 113. Here Sanderson led 3-0 after the opening period, and then he reversed from the bottom position at the start of the second round. He pinned EA's Michael Young with 26.9 seconds left in that period.

After the mutual forfeit at 120, the Blue Devils enjoyed their only lead of the evening in the team score (12-6) as Episcopal provided no opponent for sophomore Andrew Mahony at 126.

Freshman Sean Brett of SCH then squared off with visitor Fernando Loor in the 132 lb. bout. With a takedown and back points by Loor in the first round and a reversal by Brett in the second, the EA grappler had a 5-2 lead going into the third period.

As Loor attempted to escape from the bottom, the two wrestlers rolled off the mat twice. Finally, Brett intentionally allowed an escape in hope of scoring a takedown and back points. Loor resisted these efforts, and came away with a 6-2 decision.

Now close behind at 9-12, the Churchmen vaulted into a 27-12 lead in the meet as SCH forfeits at 138 and 152 lbs. (to Donald Reick and Zane Miller-Swatski) were sandwiched around an Episcopal pin at 145. Here Flynn Kearney pinned SCH sophomore Thomas Strain in 57 seconds.

Next, visiting 160 William Hohn built up a 10-1 lead in points over the first two periods of his match. Blue Devils junior Micah Ford started on top for the third period, but Hohn escaped, scored a takedown halfway through the round, and then got a pin with 33.7 seconds left.

At 170 lbs., Moore came through with Springside Chestnut Hill's second pin of the meet, sticking EA's Francesco Fort with 33.5 seconds remaining in the opening period. SCH's team score finally budged from 12 points and the tally was now 33-18 in favor of Episcopal.

The Churchmen clinched the meet victory in an anticlimactic manner as Charles Meyer collected a Blue Devil forfeit at 182. The visitors now led by 21 points (39-18), and the hosts could score a maximum of 18 in the three remaining weight categories.

At 195 lbs., Paul Buckley of Episcopal (who had bumped up in weight class) pinned SCH's Rodgers in the second period, but it a little later SCH protested because Buckley had officially weighed in at 172 lbs. even. He was eligible to bump up to the 182 lb. class, but not to 195. The Churchmen had to forfeit the bout.

A first-period takedown gave the Blue Devils' Levin an edge in his 220 lb. contest against visitor William Vandiver. There were reversals scored for each wrestler in the second stanza, then Levin translated a headlock into a pair of back points to begin the third period with a 6-2 lead.

He began the third in the superior position, but allowed another headlock to slip into an illegal hold, giving up a penalty point. With less than a minute left Vandiver reversed, and he was able to score three back points to go ahead 8-6. Levin got back on his stomach, but Vandiver turned him again, picking up another three points and earning an 11-6 decision.

With Springside Chestnut Hill's forfeit at 285 lbs. to Vern Holley of Episcopal, the meet final score (48-24) was on the board.