TROJAN WRESTLING: Dragons take down Trojans

ADRIAN — Experience was a critical factor as Adrian defeated Worthington 53-19 in a non-conference wrestling dual Thursday.

The Class 2A No. 7-ranked Dragons outpinned the Trojans 6-1 and claimed another bout by injury default en route to becoming 17-2 overall this season.

Worthington, which is 2-7 overall in duals this year, was able to capture five weight-class wins, but not until taking four of the final five bouts.

“There were a lot of bright spots to take away from tonight,” Trojans head coach Mark Prunty said. “There were a lot of matches that featured freshmen against freshmen. Adrian’s ninth-grade group has been winning everything, since they were little. They have had a lot of mat time and have quite a bit more experience than we have with our kids at the lower weights.”

Many times this season, Worthington’s lineup — featuring seven freshmen and an eighth-grader — has often competed against older competition.

Of the six bouts consisting of eighth- and ninth-graders, Adrian won every time.

Freshman Greg Kern handed the Dragons a 6-0 lead after the Trojans forfeited the 106-pound match.

It became 12-0 Adrian after ninth-grader Ryan Elias pinned freshman Hser Moo Pwae in 27 seconds.

The Dragons dominated the middle weights as ninth-grader Michael Pruess pinned freshman Torey Rogers in 3 minutes, 30 seconds at 132; ninth-grader Hunter Heitkamp pinned eighth-grader Vince Riley in 66 seconds at 138; ninth-grader Logan Rogers pinned freshman Zach Bruns in 2:47 at 145; and ninth-grader Matthew Slater scored a 16-1 technical fall in 2:17 against freshman King Saenz at 152.

Adrian had taken a 41-3 lead through eight bouts, including sophomore Tony Lynn’s pin of freshman Jeffrey Camacho in 4:27 at 126.

Worthington’s only victory during that span came at 120, where two state placewinners, the Trojans’ Anthony Luft and the Dragons’ Jaydan Bullerman, battled.

“We were expecting a good match and we had one,” Prunty said. “When Anthony is moving, he’s really tough to stop.”

Luft, who is rated fourth in Class 2A, topped Bullerman, ranked third at the same level, by a 6-2 decision.

A first-period takedown handed Luft a 2-0 lead before Bullerman escaped. In the second period, Luft used an escape to go ahead 3-1.

Bullerman closed the gap to 3-2 with a third-period escape, but Luft scored a penalty point and a takedown to seal the match.

“We had some good matches here tonight, especially with Jaydan and Luft,” Adrian coach Gregg Nelson said. “I thought Luft caught Jaydan a little early after he came out flat-footed. You can’t afford to do that. Luft got him on a good, low single (shot) early-on. It gave him the advantage he needed.”

At 160, Worthington’s Zach Kempema had to forfeit a 3-2, second-period lead after accidentally slamming Adrian’s Jesse Slater, who was taken to an area ­hospital after suffering injuries to his back and upper body.

As Kempema attempted to lift Slater in a bear hug, it appeared Slater bounced off Kempema’s shoulder as he slipped out of the hold and landed awkwardly on his back on the mat.

After a 20-minute delay, Adrian Ambulance technicians were called to Adrian High School to take Slater to receive additional medical care.

“(Jesse) was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons,” Nelson said. “He had feeling, movement and all of his senses seemed to be good. In this day and age, with how concussions are treated in sports, we wanted to take every precautionary measure that we could.”

Trailing 47-3, Worthington made its comeback in the upper weights.

At 170, Blake Schroeder produced an escape and a takedown in second period before holding off Dylan Gyberg 3-1.

At 182, Virgil Cerda overcame a 4-0 first-period deficit to score a 19-7 major decision against Tony Sieve. Cerda posted three takedowns, three reversals and a pair of three-point near falls to complete the victory.

After Adrian’s Andy McCann pinned Joe Pavelko in 3:22 at 195, the Trojans took the final two bouts with Carson Hagen (220) and Peter Abraham (285).

Hagen, who had a 2-1 lead after two periods against Adam Garms, posted an escape and a takedown in the third period to secure a 5-1 win.

Abraham trailed Quinn Cleveland 6-1 after one period, but turned a second-period reversal into a pin after 2:29.

ADRIAN 53,

WORTHINGTON 19

106: Kern (A) won by forfeit. 113: Elias (A) pin H.M. Pwae, 0:27. 120: Luft (W) decision Bullerman, 6-2. 126: Lynn (A) pin Camacho, 4:27. 132: Pruess (A) pin Rogers, 3:30. 138: Heitkamp (A) pin Riley, 1:06. 145: Rogers (A) pin Bruns, 2:47. 152: M. Slater (A) technical fall Saenz, 16-1 at 2:47. 160: J. Slater (A) won by injury default Kempema. 170: Schroeder (W) decision Gyberg, 3-1. 182: Cerda (W) major decision Sieve, 19-7. 195: McCann (A) pin Pavelko, 3:22. 220: Hagen (W) decision Garms, 5-1. 285: Abraham (W) pin Cleveland, 2:29.

Tags: sports, prep, wrestling, trojans, adrian