BAINBRIDGE – Wrestling duals between North Putnam and Southmont have been close-run outings the past few seasons and Tuesday was no exception to the trend.
The Cougars and A No. 7 Mounties once again were separated by one match with the latter managing to take home a 38-33 win.
“It is early and we have a long way to go but this was a step in the right direction tonight,” Southmont head coach Jamie Welliever said. “The last two years have been right down to the end between these two teams.”
Bryce Glaze began the night with a 9-0 lead over Thomas Woods at 126 pounds though three late points for Wood would mean a 9-3 decision and just a 3-0 lead for North Putnam to start the dual.
Jeffery Pine evened the match at 3-3 with an 8-3 decision over Wes Murphy at 132 pounds before Southmont picked up falls in the next three matches as Maddox Cade and Hunter Alesi scored second period falls over Quenton Brown and Talah Brumett at 138 and 144 pounds while Marlin Williams snagged a first period fall over Will Smith at 150 pounds.
The Cougars repeated the same feat as Josh Taylor and Caiden Hankins earned second period falls over Phisher Benge and Paxtin Fientry at 157 and 165 pounds while Braden Glaze finished Gavynn Hayes in the first period at 175 pounds, leveling the match at 21-21.
Tilman Black earned a 10-4 decision over Tyler Davis at 190 pounds before the hosts gave up forfeits to Wyatt Woodall at 215 pounds and Ayden Dickerson at 285 pounds.
The most exciting match of the night took place at 106 pounds where Owen O’Hair and Cooper Scott battled for three periods, both wrestlers securing multiple reverses through the second and third periods with O’Hair getting last-second nearfall points to win a thrilling 10-8 bout.
Kali Boller received a forfeit at 113 pounds, pushing North Putnam in front by a point heading into the final match but the Mounties would secure the dual after Brier Riggle won by fall over Skyler Poselwait at 120 pounds.
“Jeffrey Pine had a big match at 132 that could have gone either way,” Welliever said. “Even at 126, Thomas went the distance; he was down by a major decision but cut it back to a regular decision, which was huge. Several matches went the distance tonight and it was good to see those kinds of matches.”
