
DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
When the starting weight was drawn for Tuesday’s night dual with Carroll, the statistics on paper said that the best bouts would be at the start of the night.
As it turned out, the bouts at the start, in the middle, and at the end were all matches that brought the Bellmont faithful to their feet as the local fans had one last chance to see their beloved team on the home mat before the tournament season begins.


Winning the dual 43-27, the Braves had to rely on their final two seniors in the lineup to deliver the knockout blows, with Ryne Fawbush delivering the blow from the proverbial top rope with a first-minute fall to clinch it.

When Mason Bennett got the fall for Carroll at 144, the Chargers led 21-15 after beginning the meet at heavyweight. That left Bellmont in the real position of losing the dual meet based on the matchups that remained.
The Braves delivered falls with Sam Wolpert (pictured below) at 150 and Gavin Davis at 165 as expected, but it was the match at 157 that everyone in Decatur will be discussing over their Wednesday morning coffee.



Freshman Austin Manley was being beaten badly by Noah Bowser. The Charger junior, who entered with a 27-7 record, took Manley to his back twice and was leading 14-1 late in the second period. Manley, known for his perseverance and endurance, somehow found an escape with seconds remaining in the second and wanted neutral in the third, despite knowing that one more takedown by Bowser would end the bout in a technical fall.



Instead, Manley wiped off a collar tie from Bowser, attempted a shot on his opponent and then used Bowser’s underhook to go “double overs”, twisting to his right and working Bowser over to his back until he got the fall from the official. Trailing 14-2 at the time of the fall, it was likely the most improbable bout win of the season for the Braves, and it gave them a critical lead.
The first bout of the night seemed destined to be the most exciting one until Manley’s memorable moment, with Grady Baker taking out #20 ranked Bradyn Lothamer. The Carroll sophomore (32-4 to start the night) seemed to have the upper hand on Baker with an early takedown and both young men were hit with stalling calls in the first two periods, leaving the score at 4-2 (in favor of Lothamer) going into the final two minutes.
Baker chose down and gained a point on a stalling call, then earned his escape to knot the match at 4-4. Heeding the advice of his coaches at the start of the period, Baker worked under the arm of Lothamer, then turned into him and scored the winning takedown with nothing but better technique and will, taking the bout 7-5 to kick off the night.

Looking at the dual in hindsight, the wins at 285 and 157 were the difference in the match. A win for Lothamer and a tech fall for Bowser, combined with the same results in the other 12 weights would have meant a 35-34 win for the Chargers.

The Braves got falls from Gabe Myers and Henry Faurote in the first period after they built big leads at 126 and 138, respectively.
Xavior Palacios was held out of the lineup until 215, setting up Fawbush to be the hero at 190. Palacios had no issues with his opponent, scoring a 16-1 tech fall to end the night as he moved to 33-2 on the year.
A third conference title for Palacios this weekend would give Xavior three wins and 100 for his career.
The Bellmont coaching staff was invited to have the 12th graders on the team speak with WZBD throughout the night. Those interviews can be found here:
BOX SCORE
Bellmont 43 Carroll (FW) 27
285-Grady Baker (B) d. Bradyn Lothamer, 7-5
106-Joseph Warner (C) p. Jacob Binegar, 1:03
113-Boston Blake (C) d. Jacob Bleeke, 7-6
120-Chase Brickey (C) d. Ben Mills, 8-2
126-Gabe Myers (B) p. Luke Balbo, 1:37
132-Zach Welker (C) d. Ethan Curtis, 9-4
138-Henry Faurote (B) p. Matt Dilley, 1:54
144-Mason Bennett (C) p. Will Franze, 2:30
150-Sam Wolpert (B) p. Branson Sikes, 3:26
157-Austin Manley (B) p. Noah Bowser, 4:29
165-Gavin Davis (B) t.f. August Adams, 21-5
175-Ryan Myers (C) p. Landon Rich, :49
190-Ryne Fawbush (B) p. Parker Niman, :50
215-Xavior Palacios (B) t.f. Jaden Cochran, 16-1