Trojan wrestlers win twice Saturday on criteria
Mar. 7—WORTHINGTON — There is no way two closer high school wrestling matches could have been wrestled than at Saturday's triangular meet at Worthington High School.
The Worthington Trojans' first match, against Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove, ended in a 37-37 tie, with the decision going to Worthington on a fourth-tiebreaker criteria — a T-M-B/W-WG forfeit at 182 pounds. The second match, against Hutchinson, also ended in a tie, 34-34, and Worthington won that one, too, because of a head-butt penalty against the Tigers' heavyweight.
"I never saw this coming. I knew that both matchups could go either way," said WHS head coach Kirk Feit.
The third match was tight also. That one went to Hutchinson over T-M-B/W-WG 33-31.
It was Senior Day for the Trojans, and as usual there were several impressive performances by seniors. But the biggest match of the day may have occurred at 195 pounds in the Hutchinson match. The Trojans' Cade Grimmius, a ninth-grader, was inserted into a match against Tigers sophomore Cameron Mielke, and Grimmius wasted no time in taking over. Seconds into the first period he threw Mielke onto his back, and the fall came at 0:55.
The result broke a 28-28 deadlock and gave WHS a 34-28 lead. When Worthington's Cole Hennings lost his match 9-7 at 220 pounds and teammate Octovio Flores lost 4-3 in a controversial decision highlighted by two stalling points against Flores, Hutchinson's excitement was short-lived. Flores' opponent, Riley Carrigan, had been called for a head-butt. And it was remembered in naming the team winner.
Saturday's 195-pound match was the first varsity match of Grimmius' career. Afterward, he said he was just hoping for the best — just hoping he wouldn't get pinned, because the WHS bench told him his opponent would be tough.
"He just went for a shot on me, and I just got the overhook and the underhook and powered through," the freshman said later. "And I just settled in, scooped his head and got the pin."
Grimmius has been wrestling since the sixth grade. He's a big kid, and naturally he has been an understudy to several older teammates with ample varsity experience. But Grimmius said Saturday that he doesn't mind his role. He just wants to do what he can for the team, to work hard in practice to make his teammates better.
So Saturday's result was a very happy surprise.
"I was super-stoked and excited. Happy to get six points for the team," he said.
In the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove match, the Trojans fell behind early as they lost five of the first six weight classes. Down 28-3, the comeback began when Chase Byrne pinned the Panthers' Kalvin Crumrine at 145 pounds. Next, Damon Schultz pinned Jacob Meyer in 45 seconds.
At 160 pounds, T-M-B/W-WG's Gabe Krick appeared to be manhandling Worthington's Mason Schutz, and in the first period Krick picked Schutz off the mat and body-slammed him onto his back. Schutz was unable to continue and was declared the winner by disqualification.
At 195 Worthington's Tanner Hennings returned from a short injury time-out to pin his foe in 3:44. Then at 220, Cole Hennings beat his Panther rival with a 12-3 major decision. T-M-B/W-WG heavyweight Nic Willhite pinned Flores to forge the tie, which led to the criteria decision.
Trojans Oliver Ortiz (120) and Damon Schutz (152) both won twice on Saturday. Schutz won on falls of 45 seconds and 1:05. Ortiz wrestled smartly to 10-6 and 11-3 decisions. In his 11-3 major over Hutchinson's Simon Schmitz, he made a couple of textbook takedowns, and in another instance he impressed the crowd by rolling through for another takedown when he was caught in Schmitz's grasp.
The biggest controversy of the day came in the heavyweight match between Hutchinson's Carrigan and Worthington's Flores. The Trojan was penalized twice for stalling while the two big men pushed and shoved for position late in the bout. Feit didn't agree with the penalty points, but he pointed out the referee made a judgment call that Flores wasn't working hard enough for a takedown.
All in all, Feit said, his wrestlers wrestled with moxie.
"Some guys really came out and took it to 'em. And that's what you gotta do this time of the season. Sometimes it's a battle of wills," said the coach.
Worthington will begin Section 3AA team competition Thursday.
Worthington 38, T-M-B/W-WG 37
106-Carlson (TMBWWG) MD A.Galvez 14-2
113-Carter (TMBWWG) pinned O.Galvez 4:49
120-Ortiz (W) dec. Ankrum 10-6
126-A.Schuh (TMBWWG) pinned Abdulrahman 5:38
132-Horner (TMBWWG) pinned Htoo 1:00
138: Torgeson (TMBWWG) pinned Bleh 1:25
145-Byrne (W) pinned Crumrine 1:48
152-D.Schutz (W) pinned Meyer 0:45
160-M.Schutz (W) by disqualification
170-Johnson (TMBWWG) dec. J.Hennings 7-1
182-K.Lais (W) by forfeit
195-T.Hennings (W) pinned Martinez 3:44
220-C.Hennings (W) MD T.Willhite 12-3
HWT-N.Willhite (TMBWWG) pinned Flores 2:36
Worthington 35, Hutchinson 34
106-Bipes (H) pinned A.Galvez 0:32
113-O.Galvez (W) pinned Martin 3:24
120-Ortiz (W) MD Schmitz 11-3
126-Card (H) by inj. default Abdulrahman
132-McGraw (H) dec. Htoo 9-6
138-Peterson (H) pinned Bleh 0:47
145-Rickertsen (H) dec. Byrne 10-3
152-D.Schutz (W) pinned Hoag 1:05
160-K.Galvez (W) by forfeit
170-Luthens (H) MD J.Hennings 13-1
182-K.Lais (W) pinned Anderson 0:37
195-Grimmius (W) pinned Mielke 0:55
220-Vander Voort (H) dec. C.Hennings 9-7
HWT-Carrigan (H) dec. Flores 4-3
