Mountaineers dominate at quad meet

MADISON — Wrestling teams with befitting nicknames like Gladiators, Green Dragons, Bisons and Mountaineers collided Wednesday in Madison where the Mountaineers hosted a quad meet with teams from Riverheads, William Monroe and Buffalo Gap in the mix.

Madison went 3-0 and improved its nearly perfect dual-match record to 9-1.

Here’s how the Mountaineers tussled, round by round:

Round 1: Madison 61, William Monroe 12

Three forfeits left just 11 contested matches and the Mountaineers made it a clean sweep over the Green Dragons, who are only in their second year as a team.
After the forfeit to William Monroe at 103 pounds, Madison took control when Hunter Welch (112) pinned Perrin Mills (1:19), Dylan Basta (119) won by decision, 7-0, over Adam Weisenborn, older brother Bobby (125) pinned Michael Thompson 35 seconds and Ethan O’Connell (130) claimed a forfeit.

Tyler Atwell (145) finally forced Chris McCann to succumb (4:56) and Andrew Riner (152) won by major decision, 8-0, over Doug Sizemore. Anthony Jewett (160) pinned Ryan Roman and Justin Farry (171) surprised Ben Sizemore with a win by fall at 3:58.

John Heller (189) outworked Zach Cummings, 10-4, and Brandon Utz wasted no time against Jeremy Brill, sticking the Green Dragon in 58 seconds.

Round 2: Madison 54, Buffalo Gap 18:

A combination of six forfeits, four by Madison and two by Buffalo Gap, left eight head-to-head encounters, and the Mountaineers claimed a 6-2 victory.
Madison’s wins came from O’Connell (130), who pinned Charles Lawhorn, Brumett (135) won by major decision, 12-1, against Zac Richey, Atwell (145) pinned Casey Lewis (1:56) and Riner (152) and Jewett (160) both won by major decision.

Riner won 12-3 against Treavor Hedrick and Jewett won 15-2 over Brandon Dove, while Utz (215) crushed Cameron Caudell in 40 seconts.

Round 3: Madison 44, Riverheads 30

The Mountaineers forfeited matches at 103 and 189 pounds; the Gladiators returned the kindness at 125 and 215 pounds.

In the ten head-to-head battles the Mountaineers had a decisive, 7-3, edge over the Gladiators.

Action began at 119 where Dylan Basta pinned Michael Stogdale (0:47). Older brother Bobby claimed a forfeit at 125 and then O’Connell (130) danced past Joey Waltz by major decision, 11-0.

Brumett (135) pinned Michael Gowen (3:43) and Helmick (140) stuck Ryan Shaw (2:43). Atwell (145) won by major decision, 11-0, over Stansford Shifflett before Riverheads’ Jonathan Pendleton (152) won in similar fashion, 12-4, over Riner and teammate Nash Vernon (160) won by technical fall (3:58) over Jewett.
The Gladiators kept it going when Wesley Jarvis (171) pinned Justin Farry and Joseph Cash (189) claimed a forfeit.

Heller moved up in weight for Madison to claim the forfeit at 215 but this bumped Utz up to heavyweight where the Mountaineer senior battled Rob Dzuba. After two scoreless periods, Utz scored an escape in the third and attempted to keep Dzuba at bay but the highly regarded heavyweight scored a takedown in the waning seconds of the match to win by decision, 2-1.

The Mountaineers return to action on Saturday, January 3, when they host the “Mountaineer Classic” where a total of 12 teams, including Eastern View, will compete in five matches each.

Contact Mark O’Connell at .