WALHALLA — With the outcome of Monday evening’s match already decided in favor of the visiting team, Walhalla High School senior Andrew Vaughn fought through his final match for a win by technical fall, leaving it all on the mat just as Razorbacks’ head coach Rick Somerville wanted.

In a highly emotional match for both sides, the Walhalla wrestling team fell by a final score of 29-27 Monday night to Woodruff in the third round playoff dual meet, which advances the Wolverines to the upper state championship on Wednesday night.

Somerville has come to be known for his exuberance just off the mat at the Razorbacks’ matches and wants to win more than anyone else in the gym, but even he was able to manage a smile just moments after his team’s season had come to a grinding halt.

“They gave me everything they had, and there was nothing left,” he said. “My guys came out here and gave it everything they had, and that’s the way it goes. And hey, the quarter finals aren’t bad.”

After building an early lead, the momentum began to shift away from the Razors directly following Austin Hedden’s 35th consecutive victory by pin at the 215 class.

Josh Smith earned a victory at the heavyweight class for Woodruff to cut the Razors’ lead to 19-13 before Akierrian Gilliam came away with what was likely Woodruff’s biggest victory of the season.

The Wolverines’103-pounder was trailing 6-2 following the second round of his match, but made a ferocious comeback and escaped with a 9-8 victory, with his final two points coming in the final second of the match.

“That’s where the momentum definitely swung in our favor,” said Woodruff head coach Daniel Westmoreland. “We always say to push to the third period, and he came through for us in that third period.”

Woodruff’s Jeremy Phillips earned a victory by pin in the next match to put his team up 22-19 before Walhalla made one last hard push at keeping its season alive.

David McCoy earned a victory at the 119 class to tie the match at 22-22, but Woodruff earned consecutive victories, including a crucial major decision from Chris Foreman to notch the victory.

Following the match, the scene around the Walhalla gym was an emotional one, with much of the team, including its 10 seniors, blaming themselves for the Razors’ season-ending defeat.

Somerville was consoling many of them on the mat, having to remind them that the loss was nobody’s fault, which he said is only natural feeling for them to have.

“They will do that, but I’ll help them understand that it’s not about this one match tonight,” he said. “This is a life lesson. They’ll take away from this the good, and they’ll remember the bad too. But they’ll learn that’s life.”

Although this marked the end of team play for those 10 seniors, their Walhalla careers aren’t finished yet with the individual State Tournament just around the corner on Feb. 15 and 16 at Crescent.

But their team effort on Monday won’t soon be forgotten by Somerville, who has been around this senior class since teaching many of them in the eighth grade.

He got the effort he wanted out of them against the Wolverines, which is the only way the third-year head coach can accept not coming out of the winning end of any match.

“I’m so proud of these guys,” he said. “I hate losing, but if we lose, I want to lose that way where there’s nothing left.

Seniors honored. Walhalla seniors Ethan Lecroy and Andrew Vaughn were recently honored by being chosen to participate in the North South All-Star Wrestling Classic in Myrtle Beach.

Lecroy and Vaughn, who compete at the 112 and 140 classes, respectively, will take part in the event on the weekend of Feb. 29- Mar. 1.

Woodruff 29, Walhalla 27

103 — Gilliam (W) minor dec. Rankin, 9-8

112 — Phillips (W) pinned Lecroy, 5:08

119 — McCoy (Wal) minor dec. B. Foreman, 9-3

125 — Flynn (W) minor dec. Brown, 4-3

130 — C. Foreman (W) major dec. Nichols, 11-2

135 — Vaughn (Wal) tech. fall Lowery, 19-4

140 — Christopher (W) major dec. Holcombe, 10-2

145 — Burrell (Wal) pinned Finley, 0:57

152 — Harper (Wal) minor dec. Orias, 12-5

160 — Ingle (W) minor dec. Lawrence, 4-0

171 — Chapman (Wal) major dec. Smith, 18-5

189 — Lamb (W) minor dec. Nathan, 9-7

215 — Hedden (Wal) pinned Grandy, 3:29

285 — Smith (W) minor dec. Smith, 6-3