BAINBRIDGE – Bainbridge-Guilford-Afton-Harpursville wrestlers continue to have success on the mat after winning two dual meets on back-to-back nights.
Tuesday’s match in Walton got underway at 138 pounds but quickly moved on to the next weight class when Ben Bivar won by forfeit, scoring an easy six points for the Bears.
The Warriors Vinny Escobar met BGAH’s Hayden Lewis next on the mat. But this match too, ended quickly as Lewis pinned Escobar in 39 seconds. Lewis’ teammate Austin Eggleston also took a quick pin, topping Walton’s Kolby Polomcean 35 seconds into the 152 match.
The Bears Shane Hoover also earned a fall victory in the first period. As :49 showed on the clock, referee Bruce Kinney slapped the mat, signaling the pin by Hoover against Walton’s Ethan Church.
Earning the fastest pin honors of the night was Mike Wilmot, BGAH’s 170 stand-out. Of the 11 pins throughout the meet, Wilmot took the Warriors’ Kaylieb Stanton to the mat immediately after Kinney blew his whistle and pinned Stanton just seven seconds later.
The next two matches of the meet were pins in favor of the host team.
At 182 pounds, Scotty Barnhart of Walton/Delhi won by a 3:40 fall in the second period while teammate Josh Johnson pinned Rocco Arduini, his opponent in the 195 pound weight class, with :49 remaining in the first period.
Brock Weist won by forfeit for the second time in the meet for the Bears, giving BGAH the 36-18 lead half way through the bouts.
With back-to-back pins for the Warriors happening in the 285 and 99 pound matches, Walton/Delhi cut the 18 point lead, held by the road team, down to just six.
With a win by pin or forfeit, the Warriors would have tied the teams up at 36 points each.
But the next two matches each ended in a forfeit by their opponent, erasing the six points scored by the teams.
The last match won by a pin was done by Walton/Delhi’s Caleb Robinson, scoring a 54 second win over the Bears Teague Rezucha.
A match win by way of a pin in the 126 pound match would have tied the match at 42-42 with just the 132 pound bout remaining.
BGAH’s Brady Buttice avoided the pin, going the three period distance for the first time all meet. But Buttice wasn’t on the winning end of the the 7-5 decision as Brody Silcox helped Walton/Delhi pull within three points.
A decision win for the Warriors would have set up a tie for the meet final score while a pin would complete one of the largest comebacks this season.
On the mat for the final match of the night were Haiden Burns for the Bears and Warriors’ Tracer Howland.
