Kaufman's Major Clinches Baylor Win Over McCallie

Porter Kaufman hasn’t been through the Baylor-McCallie wrestling wars like some of his teammates, but the talented eighth grader came through like a champ on the big stage Saturday afternoon.

Kaufman has only been part of the Baylor varsity for a few weeks after a successful run in the middle-school league, but he didn’t let his lack of experience get in his way as it was his 8-0 major decision at 113 pounds that clinched the match for the Red Raiders as they defeated their arch-rival by a 38-33 final in a packed Jimmy Duke Arena.

Wrestling coaches always talk about how important bonus points are and that certainly came in to play Saturday after both teams had won seven matches.

The difference came down to those bonus points as Baylor earned bonus points in all seven wins while McCallie only got them in four of seven victories.

McCallie had four pins and three regular decisions while Baylor countered with three pins, one forfeit, two technical falls and Kaufman’s major.

Baylor improves to 10-2 overall and has clinched the top spot in its region while McCallie is now 9-5 overall and will be seeded second in the State Duals next weekend in Franklin.

This match always generates more interest and excitement than any other match in town and Saturday’s clash was no exception. 

Ethan Dendy’s third-period pin at 152 gave McCallie its only lead of the day at 15-12, but Baylor won the next two matches with a pin from Mason Reiniche and a technical fall from Riley Westlake as the Red Raiders regained the upper hand at 23-15.

Khamari Whimper recorded the second technical fall for Baylor at 195 and Tyree Tolliver was awarded a forfeit at 220 for a commanding 34-18 lead for the hosts.

River Henry trimmed that lead to 34-21 with a regular decision at 285 and Alex Whitworth got the Blue Tornado within 34-27 with a pin at 106, setting the stage for Kaufman’s big win.

The slender youngster had takedowns in each of the first two periods before scoring a reverse and a two-point near fall in the final two minutes for the 8-0 win.

Zach Ward then posted a 2:57 pin in the final match at 120, but it really didn’t matter as Baylor had the match in hand with Kaufman’s win.

“That was fun as usual and I’m just thankful to be part of it,” said Baylor coach Ben Nelson afterward.

“We could have done a little more earlier to put things out of reach, but it came down to the next-to-last match.  That’s a pretty big stage for a young man like Porter, but he handled it well and came through for us.

“Our goal all along has been to just keep getting better as we get near the end of the season and I think we’re right where we need to be.  I don’t think anyone gave us much of a chance of beating Father Ryan and McCallie in our last two dual meets, but next weekend should be interesting.

“We’re all about the same place and there’s so much parity in our division.  It should be a toss-up as to who shows up and wrestles the best next weekend,” Nelson concluded.

McCallie coach Mike Newman had done a bunch of figuring as to how this match might turn out long before the first wrestler took the mat. 

It didn’t turn out the way he had planned.

“It turned out completely opposite to how I had figured, but it was just another hard-fought match between two really good teams.  Matches like this are great for the sport of wrestling,” Newman began.

“We’ve never wrestled a perfect match, but we wrestled better today than we did last weekend and I feel like we’re headed in the right direction.  Thomas Sell’s decision at 145 was a big win for us, but is always the case, it comes down to bonus points and I’m sure Baylor had more than we did,” he added.

McCallie’s other winners included Brock Herring with a pin at 132 and Walter Robinson with a 4-3 decision at 182.

Baylor’s other winners included Haden Hartline and Austin Atchley, who both posted pins at 126 and 138, respectively.

BAYLOR 38, McCALLIE 33

(Match began at 126 Pounds)

106 – Alex Whitworth (M) pinned Clayton Pettway, 3:47;

113 – Porter Kaufman (B) major dec. John Braman, 8-0;

120 – Zach Ward (M) pinned Chase Radpour, 2:57;

126 – Haden Hartline (B) pinned Evan Hughes, 3:29;

132 – Brock Herring (M) pinned Luke Fraley, 1:24;

138 – Austin Atchley (B) pinned Jacob Roberts, 1:01;

145 – Thomas Sell (M) dec. Alex Atchley, 7-5;

152 – Ethan Dendy (M) pinned Connor Duffy, 5:34;

160 – Mason Reiniche (B) pinned Russell Barry, 1:27;

170 – Riley Westlake (B) won by technical fall over Hayden Rowland, 5:37;

182 – Walter Robinson (M) dec. Derek Duncan, 4-3;

195 – Khamari Whimper (B) won by technical fall over Adams Robinson, 5:39;

220 – Tyree Tolliver (B) won by forfeit;

285 – River Henry (M) dec. Riley Bodine, 3-0.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)