PPT Slide
Clash of the titans in Panther win
For most of those inside the Lake Field House for Perry’s 53-10 victory over the Lake Blue Streaks on Thursday, the evening’s first 13 matches were nothing more than a warm-up for what proved to be the main attraction.
In the first meeting between two Stark County wrestlers with a combined five state championships already under their belts, Perry three-time state champion Dustin Schlatter jumped up a pair of weight classes to 160 pounds in order to face Lake two-time champ Mike Miller in the final match of the dual.
And with the crowd standing and cheering, the two wrestlers slugged it out for the full six minutes, plus another one minute of overtime before Miller was able to squirm his way out of Schlatter’s grasp with 8.8 seconds remaining in the second overtime session for the 5-4 victory.
The loss was only the fourth in Schlatter’s high-school career and his second of the season. He also lost to Brent Metcalf of Davison (Mich.) in the finals at the Medina Invitational Tournament back in December, also in two overtimes.
“Dustin, that’s a brave warrior there,” said Perry coach Brian Dolph, whose team improved to 8-1 overall and clinched no worse than a share of their seventh straight Federal League championship with a 6-0 record. “To go up two weight classes to wrestle somebody like that. He’s been bothered with injuries all year. But he’s persevered through them all. He still went out there to fight and win. He shouldn’t hang his head. He has a lot to be proud of.”
Miller, who remains undefeated this season, is just the second Ohio wrestler to ever beat Schlatter. The only other one was former Perry Panther Jason Johnstone, who beat Schlatter when the latter was a sophomore at St. Paris Graham during the Ironman Tournament.
“It’s the most fun match I’ve had in a long time,” said Miller, who lost to Schlatter 10-4 a year ago in a dual match at Perry. “Everything was a battle.”
Schlatter got the early takedown in the first period, although it wasn’t without some controversy. He had a hold of Miller by the waist from behind and Miller stumbled slightly – although he never went entirely down – for Schlatter to get credited with the takedown.
“I thought it was kind of a cheap call,” said Miller, who had not had a takedown recorded against him this season until Thursday. “But you can’t put yourself in a position to let the referee beat you.”
Miller would get an escape before the end of the first period to make it a 2-1 match in favor of Schlatter. The Panther senior chose bottom to start the second period and escaped to rebuild his two-point margin.
At the start of the third period, Miller slithered out of Schlatter’s grasp to pull within 3-2. Then, right at the edge of the circle, he managed to drag Schlatter down while keeping his toes inbounds to take a 4-3 edge on the first takedown recorded by an
