Bulldogs trounce Knights 57-9
Feb. 8—The Meadville Bulldogs took care of business on senior night.
Meadville beat Franklin 57-9 and three seniors won via pin at Meadville Area Senior High School's House of Thrills on Tuesday.
"We wrestled aggressive and wrestled smart. We got down in a few matches, but ended up keeping our heads about us and doing well," Meadville head coach Barry Anderson said. "I was really happy with our effort tonight."
The match opened at 121 pounds and saw Meadville's Caleb Anderson face Cael Dailey. Dailey is 26-3 this season and advanced to the state tournament last year.
After trailing for most of the bout, Anderson scored a reversal with about 36 seconds left in the final period to tie things up at 2.
Dailey scored a reversal with seven seconds left and held Anderson off to give Franklin a 3-0 lead in the match.
"Right out of the gate, Caleb wrestled one of their tougher kids and had a chance to turn him at the end," Anderson said. "He ended up getting reversed, but he was in it the whole time."
Following the opening bout, the Bulldogs went on a run. Stephen Ernst won a 9-2 decision at 127 to even the score at 3.
At 133 pounds, Alex Kinder pinned Trenton Rice in 3 minutes and 48 seconds. Kinder nearly pinned Rice in the first period before a reversal and near fall evened the score at 5. Kinder worked Rice into a cradle early in the second period to give the senior his 12th fall of the season.
Freshmen Jacoby Thompson and Ryder Say won at 139 and 145 with forfeits. Brighton Anderson gave the Bulldogs their second pin of the night (3:49) and a 27-3 lead. Connor Kearns followed with a pin in 3:58 at 160 pounds.
Franklin won at 172 pounds, but at 189, Ty Tidball responded with a 58-second pin. Rhoan Woodrow won with a pin at 215 (1:30) before Ian Whistler put an exclamation point on the match.
Whistler, a first-year wrestler, wasted no time. The 285-pounder pinned his opponent in 14 seconds.
"He went out here and looked like he was ready. Sometimes on senior night you want to get some mat time and get some coverage, but he got a cradle locked up and was quick. Same thing with Rhoan, he went right to work too," Anderson said. "I couldn't be happier with their efforts and with Alex getting a pin tonight too. That was huge for our seniors going forward.
"It's the last time they'll wrestle a dual meet in this gym and they did an excellent job."
Meadville's Ben Fuller won via forfeit at 107 pounds and a double forfeit at 114 closed the match.
With the win, Meadville is 11-5 in dual matches this season. The Bulldogs will travel to Saegertown today for the Panthers' senior night.
"We'll see how we do tomorrow night, but we are wrestling our best matches now. Going forward, I hope we continue to do that. We'll make minor adjustments, but going out and getting pins is all I can ask these guys to do."
Alex Topor can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at atopor@meadvilletribune.com.
