South Adams managed just four wins in the big intra-county match between the Starfires and the Bellmont Braves Tuesday night, giving up 55 points in a much-anticipated early-season clash between two teams bound for Team State in January.
There were several juicy individual matchups that had people talking, but when it was said and done, the Braves had a satisfying 55-24 victory over a county rival and some validation in several weight classes.
To the Starfires’ credit, all four wins were falls and they had to spot Bellmont twelve points with their two forfeits. The reality, though, is that South Adams will need to learn to win while spotting nearly every team twelve points all season long.
Perhaps the most anticipated match of the night was at 190, where two state-ranked wrestlers did meet on the mat, with no lineup shift enacted. Xavior Palacios worked for a minute for the right moment, then capitalized on a deep shot by Wes Summersett to score the opening takedown. Once he reached across and found an elbow, it was cradle locked and game over, scoring the fall in 98 seconds.
The win by Palacios was a game-changer for the Braves, who had been trailing 18-17 prior to Landon Rich’s win by fall at 175. Rich had conceded the opening takedown to Nic Brewster, but turned into the sophomore and scored the fall early in the second period.
That was followed up by the first career varsity win by Blake Christner at 215 and the two forfeits, putting the match away for the visitors.
The biggest scalp for the Starfires came at 150. Sam Wolpert looked like he was on his way to a third consecutive big victory, possibly a tech fall against Wyatt Mann, until Mann went all in on a takedown on the third period, stepping over Wolpert and taking him straight to his back for a surprise fall.
Nathan Plattner came back from allowing the opening takedown to beat Austin Manley at 157.
The Braves won the rest of the toss-ups and immediately started thinking about the weekend, where they hope to put last year behind them and sweep the NE8 duals at New Haven.
Bellmont 55 South Adams 24
132-Dakota Sprunger (SA) p. Luke Ruble, 1:28
138-Henry Faurote (B) t.f. Braxtyn Hough, 25-4
144-Gabe Myers (B) p. Gabe Steiner, 2:57
150-Wyatt Mann (SA) p. Sam Wolpert, 4:56
157-Charles Faurote (B) p. Andols Banter, :46
165-Nathan Plattner (SA) p. Austin Manley, 3:29
175-Landon Rich (B) p. Nic Brewster, 2:29
190-Xavior Palacios (B) p. Wes Summersett, 1:38
215-Blake Christner (B) d. Cooper Affolder, 7-1
285-Grady Baker (B) WBF
106-Camron Barger (B) WBF
113-Bradley Baker (B) p. Brock Sprunger, 1:09
120-Max Adams (SA) p. Oliver Faurote, 2:16
126-Ben Mills (B) t.f. Daniel Rupp, 17-2
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