Referee Bob Williams looks in on the action at the right as Fairbanks heavyweight Billy Reed-Bodey prepares to pin his Grandview opponent. The Panthers defeated the Bobcats, 60-18, Wednesday evening. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
Matches that were captured by either pinfalls or forfeits led Fairbanks High School’s varsity wrestling squad to a 60-18 triumph over Grandview on Wednesday.
There were only five varsity matches that were actually contested on the mat in the Panther gym.
Fairbanks won all five of those bouts by pinfalls.
Teagan Green (126) put Grandview’s Tazio Pinter to the mat in 2:53.
Marshall Kinder needed only 16 seconds of the 138-pound match to topple Jack Culver.
Dominic Coy claimed victory at 152 pounds with a 37-second pinfall over Owen Billeter.
Aidan Groves came out on top of the 160-pound bout with a 2:57 fall over Colin Haj.
Billy Reed-Bodey put the shoulders of his Bobcat heavyweight counterpart, Frank Collins, on the mat just 36 seconds after referee Bob Williams’ first whistle.
Fairbanks also won a handful of matches by forfeit.
Those victors were Austin Coy (120), Andrew Halterman (170), Ethan Chippas (182) Tanner Conway (195) and Tucker Green (220).
The Bobcats took the 106, 113 and 145-pound classes by forfeit to garner their points.
James Kasser, Fairbanks’ second-year head coach, has been happy with his squad’s progress so far this season.
“Our conditioning is a lot better, as is our mental toughness,” he said. “We’re also getting better at wrestling entire six-minute matches, when we’re not pinning an opponent.”
Kasser noted the Panthers finished second to North Union during the recent Triad Invitational.
The Wildcats defeated Fairbanks by just 8.5 points.
“I’ve really been pleased by what I’ve seen from the team this year,” he said.
“It’s difficult to build a program up from club status, but we’re getting there,” he said. “We have 50 youngsters in our youth program and I feel that’s a good sign for our future.”