Ian McCutcheon FloWrestling.org The most fun day of wrestling every year is the District 11 Duals Tournament in eastern Pennsylvania. As a recent Easton grad, I’ll be the first to admit my bias, but for wrestling fans, it’s worth making the pilgrimage at least once. For as many years as I’ve attended, there has been one “Oh my word did that just happen” moment at the tournament. Whether it be unknown Spencer Beck cement mixing Joe Caramanica to his back (which Northampton fans still insist was a fall), Brad Gentzle’s decision over 3 time state place winner John Paukovitz (who teched Gentzle the week earlier), the “biting” incident during Easton-Northampton two years ago, or Sean Richmond’s Peterson roll on Billy Haydt during ride-out that led to Easton turning the tables on Northampton after losing in the regular season for the second year in a row. The tournament never fails to deliver excitement. While I think that finals have been somewhat compromised since now both teams make the State Duals Tournament rather than just the champion, semi-finals are now the hot ticket. This year’s semi delivered a moment that will forever live in District 11 lore. The Easton-Nazareth semi-final bout was 26-19 in favor of Nazareth with just 125 and 130 left to wrestle. Easton had Jordan Oliver looming at 130, so most likely whoever won 25 was going to win the dual. Clearly, this had the makings for a hero. Easton trotted out Mark Hartenstine, a sophomore who won Reno this year, who has developed into one of Easton’s most dependable wrestlers, and a future star in District 11. Nazareth countered with Ryan Krecker, one of a number of supremely talented freshmen in their lineup. He’s the kind of kid I see winning a state title in the future, but right now, Hartenstine probably was a consensus favorite. Since all everybody here in the Lehigh Valley can talk about is the last ten seconds, I’ll fast forward. Hartenstine has what seems to be a commanding 3-0 on the strength of an ankle pick and an escape. Knowing Hartenstine’s reputation as a fantastic rider with an above average tilt series, Krecker chose neutral for the third. In those final ten seconds, Hartenstine was inexplicably pushing the action. He sees an opening, and takes a shot, which Krecker counters with a front headlock. Uh-oh. Before the Easton contingent could say “Rob Rohn”, Krecker hit a cement mixer for two and two, and pulled off a stunning 4-3 victory. The gym in Bethlehem went ballistic, Nazareth forfeited to Oliver at 130, and walked away with a 29-25 victory and a ticket to Hershey. The win snaps an Easton streak of seven consecutive years in state finals, with four titles. Now I realize this is a national website, so I need to make a point that reaches a wider audience then the people I try to encourage to read this on a local message board. While there was some controversy surrounding Krecker’s headlock, the overwhelming majority seems to say, “What was Hartenstine doing, he never should have been in that position with 10 seconds left, up three point, and no stall warnings. Why is he shooting? Why is he even still wrestling?” How quickly people have jumped on him has been something I’ve mulled over all week. Certainly as a coach, one of the major points you try to pass on to your wrestlers is know the situation. Bout score, team score, time, and stall warnings are all a major part of this awareness. But the problem I have is with the contention that Hartenstine should have just stopped wrestling. I guess it’s the equivalent of taking a knee in a football game or breaking into the four corners offense in basketball, but I feel like there is something to admire about him continuing to shoot through the end of the match. The result certainly isn’t what you want, Easton sitting at home this weekend proves this, but it’s a mistake you can learn from. Which brings me to Mike Tamillow’s blog this week. The Cliff Notes version is short. Make a decision. The best piece of advice my dad has ever given me is “if you’re going to make a mistake, make it at 100 miles an hour.” The worst thing you can do in sports is be indecisive. As a college baseball player, nothing sets our head coach off more than a check swing. Either commit to the swing or don’t. If you make a decision, it can be coached. It may not be the right decision, but we can talk about it and see why it wasn’t the right decision. If you’re indecisive, there’s nothing to go on. It’s a completely wasted effort. I hear it on almost a daily basis in practice, but not until I read Tamillow’s blog this afternoon did I really think to apply it across the board. And it’s exactly the point I was searching to think of in how I felt about the last ten seconds of the Hartenstine-Krecker match. Mark Hartenstine made a decision in the final seconds that he was going to push the action and keep shooting. Was it the right one? Probably not. But he didn’t sit back on his heels and get doubled to his back, he made an aggressive mistake. There’s no shame in that. It just so happens that Ryan Krecker made a better decision. Whether he had a wrist or his own elbow in the headlock, he was going to hit the move as hard as he could and see what happens. Because he made a very good, split second decision, Nazareth is in the State Duals Tournament this weekend, where if they can beat a very good Central Dauphin team, will most likely get another shot at Northampton in a rematch of District Finals. Easton will be watching on TV for second time this millennium. But don’t think for a second that both wrestlers and teams won’t be better because of the last ten seconds of that match. Two athletes gave great efforts and one of the most amazing finishes I’ve ever seen. Their efforts are everything that’s right about high school wrestling. Everybody in Pennsylvania, enjoy State Duals this weekend, we’ve got it good in the Keystone State, so make sure you take advantage. I’m sure another classic moment will happen sometime this weekend.