CHARLESTON, Tenn. – The East Hamilton Hurricanes won the battle, but the Walker Valley Mustangs won the war.
The Hurricanes had a 6-5 advantage in matches won at the home of the Mustangs Tuesday night, but dual-meet wrestling teams normally don’t have much of a chance of winning when there are holes in the lineup.
Such was the case in this match as Walker Valley took advantage of three forfeits and ended up winning the match by a final score of 45-26.
Take away those 18 free points and the Mustangs would still have prevailed by a point.
The Mustangs may have been victorious, but head coach Alan Morris was anything but happy when the final outcome had been determined.
“I’m really pretty frustrated as we just didn’t have any intensity tonight,” Morris said afterward.
“We didn’t take many steps forward tonight as we didn’t get any better as a team, although we had a few individuals who claimed some big wins.
“That was another good win for Chandler Davis at 113 and the match at 120 was another rematch from the Central finals on Saturday. We lost there tonight as their guy was more ready than we were. And I’m really happy for Tyler King as he keeps improving all the time and has been a pleasant surprise for us.
“We were up 5-0 at 145 and maybe should have won that match, but conditioning got us. Give Cade Meeks credit as he’s a pretty good wrestler.
“We have a big match here on Thursday with Soddy Daisy and I hope things change between now and then or we’ll get whipped,” Morris concluded.
East Hamilton coach Ryan Cooper was happy for the most part.
“That was a good effort tonight and it’s all about us continuing to get better,” he began his post-match comments.
“It was a big night for Conner Thornburgh as he won after losing to that kid at Central on Saturday. And Cade Meeks won in overtime, but he just wants to do things his way and can be such a bonehead at times. It’s tough to come back when you’re down 5-0 early, but he was able to do it.
“We’ve all been sick and we’re just getting back from Christmas break. We’re just trying to get ready for the final run next month,” Cooper nodded.
Meeks improved to 21-3 with his overtime win at 145 in what turned out to be the best match of the evening.
Zeth Haynie caught Meeks in a throw and had him on his back early in the first period for a 5-0 lead before Meeks scored a reversal to trail 5-2 when the first period ended.
Meeks escaped to start the second period before Haynie got a takedown 25 seconds later. Meeks scored another reversal near the end to trail 7-5 with two minutes remaining.
Haynie extended his lead to 9-5 with a reversal to start the third, but Meeks shifted into another gear in the final 30 seconds to get a reversal and two back points at the buzzer to force overtime.
Meeks then prevailed with a takedown 38 seconds into the extra one-minute segment.
Elijah Vance got the first of two pins for the Hurricanes in the first match at 106 pounds for a 6-0 lead before Davis got the Mustangs on the board with a 5-1 decision at 113.
The Hurricanes then won four of the next five matches for a 20-9 lead following Meeks’ 9-7 overtime decision at 145, but the rest of the match belonged to the Mustangs.
East Hamilton got a second-period pin from Jason Brumlow at 182, but Walker Valley won six of the final seven bouts, including three by forfeit and the other three by pin.
Joey Vecchione had the quickest fall in 50 seconds at 152 while Nick Buck needed just 56 seconds to win at 220. Heath Tanksley also had a pin in 4:28 at 170.
Other winners for East Hamilton included Seth Carpenter and Joshua Chisenall, both getting major decisions at 126 and 138, respectively.
WALKER VALLEY 45, EAST HAMILTON 26
(Match Began At 106 Pounds)
106 – Elijah Vance (EH) pinned Karson Huff, 5:44;
113 – Chandler Davis (WV) dec. Te’Nario Thomas, 5-1;
120 – Conner Thornburgh (EH) dec. James Jur, 7-2;
126 – Seth Carpenter (EH) major dec. Conner Fay, 17-3;
132 – Tyler King (WV) pinned Samuel Malone, 5:22;
138 – Joshua Chisenall (EH) major dec. Chris Johnson, 11-2;
145 – Cade Meeks (EH) dec. Zeth Haynie, 11-9 in overtime;
152 – Joey Vecchione (WV) pinned Amari Reel, :50;
160 – Michael Teasley (WV) won by forfeit;
170 – Heath Tanksley (WV) pinned Dentre Johnson, 4:28;
182 – Jason Brumlow (EH) pinned Kallum Lowe, 2:55;
195 – Cody Duggan (WV) won by forfeit;
220 – Nick Buck (WV) pinned Griffin Towe, :56;
285 – Brenden Hooker (WV) won by forfeit.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)