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Home » Preps » Wrestling

Sunday, February 3, 2008 8:52 AM CST

Sacrifice weighs in on outcome

DOWNS - No sport demands more sacrifice than wrestling. And on Saturday, no wrestler sacrificed more than Argenta-Oreana's Nikko Lang.

Two Argenta wrestlers were deemed overweight at the LeRoy Regional, an issue they blamed on a faulty scale.

"We showed up late, weigh-ins were done when we walked off the bus. They weren't going to let kids use the restroom before they weighed in," Argenta coach Gary Cook said. "There were two sets of scales and they only let us weigh in on one. I don't agree with it, and there was some bad decisions made at that point. Nikko gave up his spot, and our 103 didn't make weight either, and they were all on weight when we left. That's the worst thing about it."

Bronson Washburn weighed-in at 130.8, or 0.8 over his weight class. Lang, Argenta's 135-pounder, was asked to step aside for Washburn, who finished third in a suddenly overloaded weight class.

It was a selfless move that cost Lang his postseason and the Bombers any chance at a regional title.

"You bump a good kid out, and I don't know how long it'll take me to get over making that decision," Cook said. "It's like the ultimate sacrifice. Those guys were both seeded No. 2, and that cost us about 40 points."

Washburn's first match was a loss against Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley's Guy Kirby. But he rebounded to take third and advance with a 17-4 win over Clinton's Cody Willis.

The top three wrestlers at 135 could see plenty more of each other at sectionals and state. Their combined record: 92-8.

"I should've came out and won (against Kirby), but I choked. He just beat me," Washburn said. "It was his day, I guess."

Argenta's other two standouts, Bryce Bowman (189) and Cody Force (215), cruised to titles by pinning all four of their opponents.

Bowman took exactly 1 minute, 31 seconds to win both matches, and it edged him ever closer to 100 career pinfalls.

"When I'm wrestling, it's not (on my mind), but when I'm done I think about it," Bowman said of his pin total. When I'm wrestling, I'm just out there to win, no matter what."

Comeback Sages

Monticello boasted three regional champs, and defending state champion Kyle Dooley (152) was the only one who didn't have to come from behind to do it.

Noah Browne (125) trailed LeRoy's Payton Tucker by three points heading into the third period before rallying for a 6-4 overtime victory.

But the highest drama belonged to C.J. Davison (140), who erased a five-point deficit and rallied to beat Clinton's Isaac Vandervort 13-12.

Davison got a takedown for the tie with 25 seconds left, and threw caution to the wind by letting Vandervort to his feet and falling behind by a point.

"I've been working on takedowns this year a lot, and it's what I do best," Davison said.

There was a reset with nine seconds left, and Davison got the winning takedown just moments before the match ended.

"We didn't have as much on the line since we knew were going (to sectionals), but I'm the type of person, who is not happy settling for second," first-year Monticello coach Andy Moore said. "It's a great confidence booster for him. It pleased the crowd, it pleased me, but ultimately, he's the one who benefits from it because he knows he can do it in the future."

Dooley, meanwhile, survived a 3-1 slugfest to win his fourth straight regional. It was his third win over GCMS's Stephan Birt.

"He wasn't as good as that (previously), but he's gotten a lot better at fighting off takedowns," Dooley said. "The more and more we wrestle, the more and more he understands what to look for. I'll probably see him again in the (sectional) finals.

Hurry up and wait

Clinton's Codi Thomas (171) had the luxury of a first-round bye as the top seed. But his wait to get on the mat grew longer after his semifinal opponent had to default due to injury.

By the time his title match rolled around, he was understandably impatient.

"I was good and warm, and I couldn't wait to wrestle. Just sitting around here all day, it was boring as hell," Thomas said.

His 13-6 win over GCMS's Tyler Flynn kept him occupied for a few minutes, at least.

"At first it was a little tough, but once I got warmed up even better, there was nothing to it. I just beat the kid," Thomas said.

It's the first step on improving upon his fourth-place finish last year.

"This is all I wait for all year� but all I'm looking forward to right now is sectionals. I'm not even looking past it," Thomas said."

Thomas' teammates Nathan Buggar (103) and Cody Haas (130) earned runner-up finishes.

Notes

n Warrensburg-Latham had a pair of wrestlers advance. Mike Call (152) and T.J. Kuster (160) finished third in their respective weight classes.

n Argenta's Mike Patterson (171) almost saw his season come to an untimely end. He needed a 3-1, triple-overtime victory in the wrestlebacks just to advance to the third-place match. Once there, though, he pinned Monticello's Ryan Mitsdarffer in 2:57.

n The top three finishers in each weight class advance to next week's Stanford Olympia Sectional. The first session is on Friday at 6 p.m. Wrestling resumes on Saturday at 10 a.m., with finals set for 2 p.m.

Todd Engle can be reached at tengle@herald-review.com or 421-7970.

 

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