By Mike Frank
Examiner Sports Writer
No shortage of excitement here.
Benjamin Logan battled its way to a 39-30 win over visiting Indian Lake in Central Buckeye Conference wrestling on Wednesday.
After the Lakers took the opening bout, Ben Logan ran off a string of victories to build a 24-5 lead. A wild high scoring affair at 165 went to the Lakers, but Ben Logan answered with a pair of pins. A major decision and three forfeits got Indian Lake within six points, before the Raiders sealed it with a decision at 120.
“We’ve had this match circled for a while,” said Ben Logan coach Kyle Seeley. “Each and every day it’s talked about in the room. It’s a good, respectful rivalry that’s been going on for 25-30 years. It’s always a dogfight.” He added that “the kids definitely came together and won some matches that we expected. We lost a couple that we did not expect to. Just have to get back in the room and keep working.”
Earning wins by fall for the Raiders were Owen Weaks at 144, Jordan Pender (157), Ethan Carpenter (175) and Levi Jordan (190). Kendall Plikerd got a technical fall at 150 and Kyle Kibler (138) won by major decision. Carter Buck (132) and Cooper Buck (120) took decisions for their side.
“It’s fun that we have county schools that are competitive,” said Indian Lake coach Ryan Dickson. “It’s better for everybody. Ben Logan’s doing some good things. We just came up short.” Winners for Indian Lake were Jordan Henderson (126) with a major decision, Czar Dickson (165) by decision and Aaron Rapp (215) with a major decision. Winning by forfeit were Owen Pummel (285), Cash Scott (106) and Brayden Riffell (113).
The first match of the night was 126 pounds, with Cooper Buck taking on Henderson. Henderson took a 6-1 lead in the first period with a pair of takedowns. He added another takedown with 43 seconds to go in the second, with Buck getting out for a point. He added two more to lead 11-2 after two periods. Henderson continued to rack up points in the third. The match ended with four seconds left as Henderson won 19-4.
At 132, Bronx Dickson of the Lakers faced Carter Buck. Buck got the only points of the first frame on a takedown with 40 seconds left. Dickson had two points in the middle period. The pair fended each other off through the third period until Buck scored a takedown with just 12 seconds left to get the 6-2 win.
Kibler faced off with Gavin Henry at 138. Kibler got his first takedown with 1:16 left, then added five more points before Henry escaped for a point. Kibler added two points in the second. In the third, he scored a takedown near the midpoint. Henry rallied with a reversal and two near-fall points, before Kibler added two more for the 15-5 win and four team points.
Weaks stepped out to face the Lakers’ Draden Stevenson at 144. He took a 4-3 lead in the first period. Weaks got a reversal 30 seconds into the second, with Stevenson eventually getting free for a point. Weaks charged back for another takedown and earned the pin with 21 seconds remaining.
At 150 pounds, Plikerd faced Noah Shirk from the Lakers. Plikerd dominated the match, scoring three takedowns in the first, one in the second and two more in the third. It ended with a 21-5 tech fall with 24 seconds to go. Pender kept the win streak going for the Raiders at 157 pounds against Dawson Stevenson. He led 3-1 after the first two minutes, then got three takedowns in the second. It ended 30 seconds into the third period with a pin for Pender.
Dickson and Hayden Hites stepped in at 165 pounds. Hites got a quick takedown for a 3-0 lead. After an escape point, Dickson earned three points with a flip near the edge of the circle. Dickson would build a 9-5 lead after one. The back and forth continued in the middle period with Dickson staying in front 17-12. In the third, Hites scored a takedown with 1:34 to go and another with 45 seconds left. He allowed Dickson up in between those, tying matters at 18. The match wasn’t decided until with 20 seconds to go, Dickson used an opening to charge in and score a takedown.
At 175, Carpenter built used three takedowns and two back points to build a lead over Indian Lake’s Taylor Clem. They battled through most of the second before Carpenter earned the pin. The 190-pound bout saw Jordan score six more points for the Raiders with a first-period pin of Lucas Chamberlain. Levi Achor of Ben Logan and Aaron Rapp of Indian Lake met at 215 pounds, with Rapp getting a takedown for the only points of the first period. He piled up eight more in the second, and eventually took home a 14-1 major decision.
After three forfeit victories for Indian Lake, the score was 36-30 in favor of the Raiders. The final bout pitted two freshmen — the Raiders’ Jeremiah Parker and Indian Lake’s J.J. Shirk. Things stayed scoreless until Parker got a takedown with 43 seconds left in the first. He then added four back points early in the second. The pair traded reversals in the latter stage of the period, leaving Parker ahead 9-2. In the final frame, Shirk got a reversal after starting on the bottom, but Parker came back around for two points of his own and held on for the 11-4 victory. Ben Logan is at the Versailles Duals on Saturday, while Indian Lake is off until the Defiance tournament on Dec. 27-28.
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The teams also had several matches for the respective girls’ teams. Indian Lake won the match 52-17. At 125 pounds, Myiah Ankrom of Indian Lake piled up the points in a 18-3 technical fall win over Ben Logan’s Mallory Chapman. The match ended midway through the second period. In another 125-pound match, Bella Hughes of the Raiders scored four takedowns in the first, holding Lilianah Mackesy to a few escape points. Hughes got a 19-3 win, with the match stopped early in the second. Diem Martin of the Lakers then picked up a pin in 26 seconds over Ben Logan’s Haley Bradley, and Riley Shaner used 2:12 for a fall over the Raiders’ Ella Stoodt. Both of those were 130-pound matches. At 135 pounds, Isabel Mackesy trailed Ben Logan’s Addie Anderson 5-4 after one period. But Mackesy fought back and got the fall 32 seconds into the the second. The final contested match was at 170, with Kaylee Haude of the Lakers and Livi Achor for the Raiders. Haude dominated the bout, winning 16-1 in a tech fall. Both girls teams will be at a tournament in Findlay this weekend.