The Lakewood Cougars wrestling team put up a fight against the Sultan Turks on their Jan. 17 Senior Night. Many of the matches were close, relying on points for the decisions. But Sultan won just enough to beat the Cougars 40-36 on overall score.
The night started out with Coach Tom OHara thanking his seniors for all the hard work theyve put in on the mat this season and in the past. The night would mark the last home meet for Jasper Hauer, Aaron Leonard, Will Wedekind. Wedekind went out in style, scoring a monster pin with eight seconds remaining in the first round of his match with Sultans Ben Schilling. Wedekind got Schilling into an arm bar midway through the round and refused to let him go.
At 189 pounds Leonard bumped up to wrestle slightly heavier than his natural 171. Not only was he wrestling out of his usual weight class, but he had a formidable opponent in Jake Estrella. However, Leonard held his own through the first round, scoring an escape to trail 4-1 after two Estrella takedowns. Leonard spent most of his time on the ground but never allowed Estrella to pin him, losing 10-1 on points after all six minutes.
At 140 pounds Lakewood again got a solid effort but fell short on points. Austin Schulz fought through a vicious swinging drop in the first round to trail 4-1. His opponent Travis Turner consistently shot at Schulzs legs with success on takedowns. Schulz kept countering with escapes but he was conceding two points for every one he scored. In the end, Turner did enough to win 12-5.
Steve Bingham gave Lakewood a big boost of enthusiasm with his victory in the 145 pound weight division. Bingham picked up David Huckabone for an early takedown to lead 2-0. He then forced Huckabone into a nearfall, scoring three points in the process. The 5-0 edge looked safe, but Bingham was only warming up. After trying a series of leg locks to turn Huckabone, Bingham finally found the right combination and put Huckabone in a precarious nearfall position. The Sultan man squirmed and attempted to bridge his way out of trouble, but to no avail. Bingham casually waited for the squirming to die down and then pinned Huckabone at 1:15 of the first round.
They were tough, said Coach OHara. Were getting a little better all the time, but I think we could have done better tonight. The key match came at 152 pounds.
At 152 Billy McKeever nearly scored a monumental upset for the Cougars, taking on highly touted Abe Bray. Bray finished as a placer in last years State tournament but could not subdue McKeever after two rounds. With the score knotted 2-2 Bray made his third period count by stealing away six points to win 8-2. It was a tough loss for McKeever, but an impressive performance nonetheless.
Lakewood scored another pin at 160 pounds where Jason Mueller gave the Cougars another six points with another first round pin in the last match of the night. It happened so fast that the result was never in doubt for Mueller.
All around Lakewood turned in a solid effort and the match could have gone either way. Sultan capitalized with several much-needed pins to claim the eventual four point victory.