#4 Jake Koser of Northern York Gets Disqualified in Round 1 for “Twisted Hammer Lock”
HERSHEY – This time last year, Northern York wrestler Jake Koser was preparing for a quarterfinal showdown in the PIAA Class AAA State Tournament at 195 pounds.
That won’t happen in 2018, as the senior was disqualified in the first round against Cathedral Prep’s No. 5 Dorian Crosby.
Jake entered Hershey’s Giant Center as the No. 2 seed at 195 pounds. after winning the South Central Regional and earning prestige points for placing fourth in the state last season. Things seemed to be going the same way Thursday night, however, that was thwarted when he met sophomore Crosby in the first round.
Both wrestlers came in ranked top five in the state; Koser fourth and Crosby fifth. The two never faced each other during the regular season.
In the opening minute, Koser got his offense rolling and collected a takedown in 31 seconds going up 2-0 on Crosby. That is when the Polar Bear ace went to work on top.
Northern York head coach Josh Murray stated that Koser recently started taking a page out of his former teammates book. “Jonathan (Ross) used to quickly trap the arm on the back and break the 45 for cheap points. People started picking up on Jake using legs so he needed to go to something else.”
That is exactly what Koser started to work on from the top position. Koser trapped Crosby’s arm on his back and attempted to work him over.
“I could hear the referee telling him to keep it legal” stated Murray. “He (Crosby) was screaming, I’ll give him that.”
That is when head referee Scott Dorn stopped the match. Murray stated that while Koser has had the move stopped in other bouts for potentially dangerous, that was never the case in the match against Crosby.
“We should have been getting back-points. I don’t know how we jump from a potentially dangerous to an illegal move.”
According to Murray, Dorn never called potentially dangerous prior to stopping the acton.
Dorn conferred with his side judge and awarded Crosby one point for a technical violation with 38 seconds left in the first period. Crosby and his coaches elected for him not to continue with the match due to the injury.
Murray protested to Dorn and asked for an explanation which he stated was never provided. Later in the evening Murray was informed that the technical violation was being called for an illegal “twisted hammer lock.”
Suddenly Koser went from the lead to being disqualified.
“I was stunned” said Koser. “I thought he would be a man. I need to move on and take third. God has a plan.”