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| Prairie View Defends Burlington Title |
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| Sports | |||
| Written by David Wolman | |||
| Wednesday, 14 January 2009 09:00 | |||
 BURLINGTON — The Prairie View wrestling team received four big boosts to its already potent lineup last week, helping the Buffalos get as close to a full squad as they’ve had all season.Freshmen Josh Thoele (112 pounds) and John Green (140), and sophomore Michael Dunlap (160) all made their season debuts. Brett Diediker (130) returned to the lineup after missing time. Each recorded at least one win last week. “Who expected our 145 JV to come win?” Prairie View coach Walter Vandeventer said. Vandeventer is referring to Green, who won three matches and placed sixth in the 140-pound division at the Burlington Wrestling Invitational, where Prairie View defended its team title, winning by 46 points, Saturday. Green’s first two wins were pins and his third was a 12-3 major decision. Thoele won two matches. After being pinned in the second round by Wellsville’s Jeremiah Brown, Thoele rallied in the consolation bracket, where he won by an 18-2 technical fall over West Elk’s Gage Hall and then pinned Holton’s CJ Wilson 3 minutes, 18 seconds into their quarterfinal match. After losing by a 9-1 major decision in the semifinals, Thoele needed less than 2 minutes to pin Eureka’s Kegan Fisher in the fifth-place match. Billy Teters is still out with a broken hand but is expected to return Saturday at Prairie View’s home invitational, where he will wrestle at 171 pounds. “When he gets back, we will have a very solid lineup,” Vandeventer said. Thoele and Green weren’t the only Buffalos who experienced success at Burlington. It was an across-the-board effort. Bo Newport, Quinton Ford and Nathan Sommer all won individual titles. Jace Roy (103), Colton Kral (119) and John Hatfield (215) all placed second. Ford reached a career milestone. In the semifinals, he pinned Wellsville’s Jesse Tillman in 3 minutes, 50 seconds for his 100th career win. Ford went on to record a 2-1 decision in the final to put a capper on his big day. “It feels pretty good,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for it for a long time.” Sommer dominated his way to the 152-pound title, scoring two pins and a 13-1 major decision to improve his record to 23-0. Newport pinned his first two opponents before recording a 12-4 major decision in the semifinal and then a 2-0 decision in the 112-pound final. Ty Page placed third at 145 pounds. Devon Minckley (189) and Tyler Brown (125) both placed fourth. Bronson Moylan was fifth at 135. “The kids worked hard last week,” Vandeventer said. “They just wrestled well. They’re really starting to pick up on the things we’re teaching them in the room. We just wrestled well, from top to bottom.” On Thursday, the Buffalos returned from the two-week holiday break to wrestle Louisburg and Butler (Mo.) in a pair of home duals. Prairie View came out victorious both times, defeating Louisburg 43-26 and Butler 59-18. To open the night, Louisburg’s Austin Hood recorded a 6-1 decision at 103 pounds for a 3-0 Wildcats’ lead. After Newport won by pin at 119, Kral by a 13-4 major decision at 125 and Brett Diediker by forfeit at 130 for a 16-3 Buffalos’ lead, the Wildcats scored a 15-0 technical fall at 135 and won by forfeit at 140 to cut the Buffalo lead to 16-14. But Ford, Page and Sommer recorded pins at 145, 152 and 160, respectively, to allow Prairie View to take control. Prairie View recorded five pins, compared to just two for Louisburg. “The kids know when we have duals, we have to pin and not get pinned,” Vandeventer said. Newport, Kral and Page were all bumped up one weight class for the duals. Against Butler, Prairie View recorded five straight wins, including three pins to open the dual, and the Buffalos went on to cruise to the easy dual win. Roy, Newport, Diediker, Ford, Page, Sommer and Dunlap all recorded pins. For Dunlap, it was his first varsity win on the season. “We wrestled really well as a team,” Vandeventer said. “I was very happy with the kids’ willingness to be coached and try things we have been working on in the room. “We have a long ways to go, and some very stiff competition coming up, but it was a great start to the second half of the season.” Prairie View returns to the mat Saturday for its home invitational. Matches start at 9 a.m.
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