Menu
SHS grapplers fall to Ste. Genevieve
Bulldogs forced to forfeit four matches against Dragons
SIKESTON -- Coming off a first place finish at the Vianney Tournament, the Sikeston Bulldogs wrestling team fell to the Ste. Genevieve Dragons Wednesday evening 51-21.
The final score is a bit misleading of the Bulldogs' actual performance, however, considering Sikeston was required to forfeit four of 14 matches against the Dragons for not having an eligible wrestler to compete.
"For various reasons we have guys out of the lineup and we have to give up six points (each match) when that happens," Bulldogs' head coach Seth Harrell said. "Ultimately, that's why it looked more lopsided than it was."
Of the matches wrestled, Sikeston still found themselves on the short-side of a 27-21 points battle, but were able to win five of the evening's 10 matches.
"Overall really not bad," Harrell said of his team's performance. "Ste. Genevieve, year-in and year-out, is pretty tough so we knew it was going to take our best to compete with them. Out of the 10 that we wrestled, we split on those.
"We had a five-to-four advantage going into that last match. It would have been nice to win that, but we just have to cut back on making mistakes."
Opening the meet up, Sikeston's Blake Angle was able to hold on for a narrow 4-2 win over Jesse Martinelli in the 112-pound division followed by the Bulldog's Cody Middleton getting pinned by at the 2:22 minute mark by Travis Jones at 119 pounds.
After three straight forfeits, Sikeston's Kenton Robinson and Dustin Wells gave the Bulldogs back-to-back wins at 140 and 145 pounds respectively. Robinson easily out-maneuvered Dominique Donnaby in a 19-0 win, followed by Wells' 9-4 decision over Josh Pinkley.
By the final two matches of the night, the Bulldogs had taken a 5-3 advantage in matches, not counting forfeits, but saw the Dragons' Nic Wittu edge out Clayton Driskill 4-1 at 215-pounds before Daniel Terrana pinned Sikeston's Ben Walker to close out the meet and even things up.
"We could have done some things a little bit different, but overall the effort was there," Harrell said. "We just have some things we need to improve on like always.
"One thing about the kids is they always work hard so we know that when we get back into the room they'll get after it and they'll work to improve."
Though happy to leave with a win, Ste. Genevieve coach Jared Bonnell would have liked to have seen better execution out of some of his younger wrestlers.
"I think a few days off of school kind of hurt us as far as practice schedule and everything like that," he said. 'We had some kids out of our lineup that would make a little tougher lineup and we have some freshman in our lineup now that aren't wrestling to their potential.
"But our seniors and juniors stepped up and I have to give it to them tonight."
Next up, the Bulldogs host both Poplar Bluff and New Madrid County Central on Thursday at 5 p.m.
RESULTS
103 -- Cole Reynolds (SG) wins by forfeit
112 -- Blake Angle (SK) def. Jesse Martinelli (SG) 4-2
119 -- Travis Jones (SG) def. Cody Middleton (SK) via pin
125 -- Kyle Brown (SG) wins by forfeit
130 -- Wes Leclere (SG) wins by forfeit
135 -- Derrick Grieshaber (SG) wins by forfeit
140 -- Kenton Robinson (SK) def. Dominique Donnaby (SG) 19-0
145 -- Dustin Wells (SK) def. Josh Pinkley (SG) 9-4
152 -- Justin Roth (SG) def. Lee Smith (SK) via pin
160 -- Greg Smith (SK) def. Kellan Steagall (SG) via pin
171 -- Ethan Basler (SG) def. Faylan Marshall (SK) via pin
189 -- Austin Henson (SK) def. Luke Hemmerla (SG) 12-2
215 -- Nic Wittu (SG) def. Clayton Driskill (SK) 4-1
285 -- Daniel Terrana (SG) def. Ben Walker (SK) via pin