DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
The Bellmont Braves walked out of North Arena in Huntington a year ago having taken some lumps at the NE8 Duals. They followed it up with their first loss in over 30 years to the Snider Panthers in what was one of the lower points of all of last season for coach Tim Myers’ team.
What a difference a year makes.
When the Panthers got off the bus and arrived at the Teepee Tuesday night, they were staring down an intimidating matchup against an old foe that carried a 21-0 record and a # ranking. Add that to the fact that Snider’s season was just three days old and it was a recipe for a big Bellmont victory.
The Panthers struck first with a fall at 138, but Bellmont won the next bouts and put the dual meet away early, much to the delight of a robust crowd that was sprinkled with letter jackets from previous decades on Alumni Night.
Sam Wolpert ran into a little bit of trouble at the tail end of his bout at 144, but hung on for a bonus-point victory, while Blake Luginbill looked strong and composed against a difficult opponent in Connor Prochaska at 150. That gave the Braves the lead heading into what was supposed to be the signature bout of the night at 157.
The crowd never got to see a competitive bout, however, mostly because Davis dominated when the two wrestlers were on their feet. Russell was slow to return to center after going toe to toe with Davis and was repeatedly warned and hit with stalling calls, to the point that official Jim Bopp nearly disqualified him from the match, handing Davis two points with a fourth stalling warning with 17 seconds remaining in the bout.
Duke Myers moved into 24th all-time on the Bellmont wins list with his fall at 165 and Xavior Palacios followed with a fall of his own.
That set the stage for another win by a Bellmont senior in Cole Mendez, who moved his record to 15-1 on the season.
Keagan Martin was aggressive and in control at 215 and he was rewarded with a fall very late in the third period.
Ethan Dodson stopped the rot for the Panthers with a fall of Grady Baker, who received some rough treatment from the tall Snider heavyweight.
The Braves will finally catch a break from their schedule over the next week before hosting Adams Central next Thursday on a night that is supposed to be a major event for local wrestling fans, featuring two #1 teams in the Braves and Jets.
Bellmont 52 FW Snider 22
138-Kendi Quoi (FWS) p. Chandler Thomas, 3:29
144-Sam Wolpert (B) m.d. Spencer Shively, 18-8
150-Blake Luginbill (B) m.d. Connor Prochaska, 12-2
157-Gavin Davis (B) m.d. Kevon Russell, 12-1
165-Duke Myers (B) p. Dallas Woodson, 4:24
175-Xavior Palacios (B) p. RJ Nitcher, 1:00
190-Cole Mendez (B) p. Troy Grorud, 1:49
215-Keagan Martin (B) p. Ethan Leal, 5:48
285-Ethan Dodson (FWS) m.d. Grady Baker, 12-0
106-Tyler Tun (FWS) p. Ben Mills, 3:14
113-Ethan Curtis (B) WBF
120-Henry Faurote (B) m.d. Deacon Rhodes, 16-4
126-Carter Krouse (FWS) p. Will Franze, 2:43
132-Keven Loshe (B) p. Sam Gemple, 1:47