Winters Mill wrestling has had a great season so far, so Wednesday night’s dual against No. 7 Manchester Valley was supposed to be a measuring stick of sorts.
While the host Falcons threw a scare into the Mavericks, Manchester Valley came roaring back to defeat Winters Mill, 39-33, in a hotly contested dual.
The Mavs (23-2) had fallen behind midway through the match, but won five of the final six bouts to take the victory.
“They are better than people think,” Mavericks coach David Dodson said of Winters Mill. “Knowing how they were matching up with us, I was concerned. Looking at the score, you can see why that was.”
The dual started a 144 pounds and the Mavericks quickly jumped out to a 15-0 lead with pins by Beau Snell and Bradyn VanDerVoort sandwiched around a tight 11-8 decision by Luke Bourg.
Winters Mill (11-4), which went 0-6 in the county last season, showed its improvement by winning the next four matches. First, Landon Buchman pinned Manchester Valley’s Dylan Brown 3:38 seconds into their match at 165. Then, Chris Gaeng (175), Nathan McLeod (190) and Victor Tejada (215) all pinned their opponents in less than two minutes to give the Falcons a 24-15 lead.
Winters Mill forfeited the heavyweight bout, so the match went to the lower weights with Winters Mill leading 24-21.
Manchester Valley took the lead back at 106, when Joey Day pinned Winters Mill’s Carly Ireland 3:48 into their match.
Then, it what turned out to be the pivotal match, Winters Mill’s Lazarus Munson held an 8-6 lead late in the third period of the 113-pound bout, but Manchester Valley’s Kayden Reid managed to turn Munson and recorded a pin at the 4:51 mark in their match. Reid’s pin gave the Mavericks a 33-24 lead with four matches left.
Winters Mill’s Skyler Crowl managed to cut the margin to 33-30 with a pin over Kyle Reid at 120 pounds, but Manchester Valley got decisions from Dakota Barnard (126) and Chase Reese (132) to put the match out of reach.
“I knew we needed the win going in, so I just went for it. He’s a really good wrestler,” Reese said of his opponent, Colton Wasmer. “You know you put the work in so you know what you have to do. It feels great to go out their and get a win in a spot like that for the team.”
“I’d never wrestled him before, so I just gave it my best shot,” Bernard said of his opponent, Brody Lockwood. “I knew the team need the points, and I knew everyone was giving their best so I figured I would, too.”
For Winters Mill coach Lou Orem, the match was both satisfying and disappointing at the same time.
“I think we came out ready to wrestle,” Orem said. “A few matches didn’t go our way, with obviously the 113 match, where we were leading on points but got pinned, being the biggest one. If we win that one, then we win the dual. They’re a good team, and if we make a few adjustments, I think we’re right there with them.”
Manchester Valley 39, Winters Mill 33
144: Snell (MV) p Vasquez, :45; 150: Bourg (MV) d Bowman, 11-8, OT; 157: Van Der Voort (MV) p Acevedo, 1:06; 165: Buchman (WM) p Brown, 3:38; 175: Gaeng (WM) p Schroeder, 1:05; 190: McLeod (WM) p Traenker, 4:57; 215: Tejada (WM) p Lowe, 1:01; Hvy: Boog (MV) won by forfeit; 106: Day (MV) p Ireland, 3:49; 113: K. Reid (MV) p Munson, 4:51; 120: Crowl (WM) p Ky. Reid, 3:39; 126: Barnard (MV) d Lockwood, 8-3; 132: Reese (MV) d Wasmer, 8-5; 138: Wilson (WM) d Heider, 7-6.
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