Edmound Ruth Takes Round 1 with Luke Nichter in District 3 Sectional

MECHANICSBURG: Susquehanna Twp. star Edmond Ruth has a supreme focus leading up to and during a big match.

The outside noise means little. Ruth knows what he can do, studies his opponent, and then puts in the work to get his hand raised at the end of six minutes … longer if that is what it takes.

It didn’t take any longer Saturday at Mechanicsburg High School. Ruth was too much on his feet in a 7-3 decision over Chambersburg’s Luke Nichter in a battle between No. 1 and No. 3 in the state during the District 3-AAA Sectional.

“This is building for the both of us,” said Ruth, a two-time state champion. “If I lose, I have to face him two more times.

“I still have to face him again, so it’s going to help both of us, because now we know how each other wrestles. The next match is going to be a good one, too.”

Ruth, a Lehigh University recruit, was slick and strong on his feet. The senior scored on a go-behind early in the first and added a second takedown on a single leg in the closing stages of the stanza for a 4-1 lead.

Nichter escaped to start the second, but he couldn’t get a shot off against Ruth. There was no scoring in the second, and the match was 4-2 headed to the final two minutes.

“I feel like I needed to attack more,” Nichter said. “I was moving my hands good, but I’ve got to attack from inside hand fighting.

“All his scores were from the outside. None were from the hand fighting. If I can score from inside and keep him there, I think it goes my way.”

That didn’t happen in this instance.

Nichter cut Ruth to start the third. The Trojans ace tried an inside trip, but Ruth shrugged it off and added another takedown.

Ruth cut his opponent to provide the final margin of victory. Nichter went for an underhook haymaker as time was winding down, but the Indians stud shrugged it off and earned the win.

“You have to focus and work on what you do and don’t look at who you have to wrestle,” said Ruth of his approach to Districts next week. “You have to focus on the match you have to wrestle. Wrestle yourself.”

Said Nichter, “I was confident I was going to win, but things don’t always come out your way. So now, I have to go back to the room and get ready to wrestle him again next Saturday.”