Lincoln Witt, Marysville’s 138-pounder (bottom), scrambles with Hilliard Darby’s Trent Vandeneyndn (top). Witt got out of the situation and eventually won the match by a 10-6 decision. (Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff)
Marysville’s 175-pounder Colton Powers (top) applies a power half and eventually pinned Hilliard Darby’s Abdukarem Abualkheir (bottom) in the first period of Thursday’s match. (Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff)
Marysville routed visiting Hilliard Darby, 59-10, Thursday night in the team’s first home wrestling dual of the season.
“It was really good first of all to just get back out on the mat,” Marysville head coach Shawn Andrews said. “The last time we wrestled as a true varsity team was Dec. 19-20… we’ve had a lot of time in the practice room.”
Marysville held its first home dual of the season Thursday night to a warm crowd as Monarch grapplers prepared to take to the mat.
Starting at 106 pounds, Ethan Heckel got the Monarchs rolling after receiving the only forfeit of the night.
That earned MHS six team points.
Marysville garnered another three points at 113 pounds after Gage Riley scrambled with the Panthers’ Henry Le for a full three periods.
That ended with Riley securing an 8-3 decision.
The Monarchs led 9-0 at that time.
Marysville’s Joe Eley pinned Gabe Green with the referee calling the match in the final seconds of the second period.
Marysville earned another six points at 126 pounds after Emilio Guerrero pinned Zion Smith with five seconds to spare in the first period.
The Monarchs suffered their first loss of the night after Hilliard Darby’s 132-pounder Ahmad Deifallah defeated Marysville’s Erick Nelson by pin in the first period.
“Erick is sophomore and hasn’t wrestled a lot of varsity matches at 132 [pounds],” Andrews said.
Lincoln Witt gave another three team points to Marysville after battling Panthers’ Trent Vandeneyndn for six minutes. Witt scored a 10-6 verdict.
Marysville was hit with another loss at 144 pounds after Hilliard Darby’s Nathan Morris defeated MHS Riley Miller by a 11-1 major decision.
“[Riley] ran into one of Hilliard Darby’s tougher guys, but he fought really hard,” Andrews said.
Josh Melms (150) tallied a major decision for the Monarchs against Landry Lee, defeating the Panther 17-5.
Marysville then earned its third consecutive major decision.
Erryl Will (157) defeated Beau Bridges by a 16-5 count.
Brady Seger (165) wrestled a full match and downed Darby’s Brandon Savinsky in a 5-0 decision.
Colton Powers, MHS’ 175-pounder, claimed victory against Abdukarem Abualkheir.
He pinned the Panther with just 12 seconds to spare in the first period.
At 190 pounds, Marysville’s Ben Bickerstaff worked his way to a victory against Jessun Barnes with a pin in the middle of the second period.
Marysville rounded out an already decisive team win with two more pins by 215-pounder Stephen Garcia and heavyweight Andrew Bentz.
“It’s always good to start your conference 1-0,” Andrews said. “There are a lot of good things to continue to work on, but it’s on to the next one.”
The Monarchs were scheduled to compete at Olentangy Liberty, 7 p.m., Friday.
In terms of junior varsity matchups, the Monarchs earned seven victories from 144 pounders Cole Clarridge and Zack Cooper, 165-pounder Alton Dobyns (two matches), 190-pounder James Lowe along with 285 pounders Eli Helmuth and Gage Counts.
With a substantial crowd in attendance, more than 100 local youth wrestlers watched from the stands as they cheered on the older Monarchs. For a sport that continues to grow, Andrews stated that it was nice to have them watch experienced grapplers.
“I think that’s the key to keeping a successful high school program,” Andrews said, adding that in the last five-or-so years Marysville has garnered similar numbers in their youth wrestling program.
“It was a lot of fun… it’s a great environment.”