Top-Ranked Baylor Wrestlers Rally To Beat Bradley

Unbeaten Red Raiders Win Final Nine Matches En Route To 49-15 Victory

  • Thursday, December 12, 2019
  • John Hunt

CLEVELAND, Tenn. – The third-ranked Bradley Bears gave top-ranked Baylor all it wanted for a while here at Bradley’s Jim Smiddy Arena Thursday evening, but the defending state champion Red Raiders flexed their muscles to win the last nine individual matches en route to a convincing 49-15 victory over the Bears.

Baylor won 11 of the 14 individual matches and had a 4-2 advantage in pins, but the Bears had nothing to hang their heads about after losing five matches by regular decisions, including four that could have gone either way.

“They punched us in the face early as they were ready to wrestle, but I thought our guys responded well,” said Baylor coach Ben Nelson after his team had improved to 6-0 on the season.

“We haven’t had many days of practice and we’re still a little rough around the edges, but we just wanted a tough match where we fought hard and that’s exactly what we got tonight.  Bradley is always well-coached and well-prepared and that’s why we enjoy competing with them.

“Chase Radpour and Luke Collins are two guys who are battling for starting positions, but they showed up tonight and did what they needed to do.  And I hated to see Jackson Bond get pinned, but Luke Belcher is a great wrestler and just a young stud,” Nelson added.

Radpour’s 9-2 decision at 145 gave Baylor its first lead of the match at 18-15 while Collins’ first-period pin helped stretch the lead. 

Bond, a defending state champ, had a 1-0 lead over Belcher after two periods before the Bradley freshman escaped to start the third before getting a takedown and a pin with 1:14 left in the match.

That pin extended Bradley’s lead to 12-6 while Taron Patterson’s 7-4 decision at 126 gave the Bears their biggest advantage at 15-6.

Baylor’s Noah Horst then posted a 10-3 decision at 132 before the Red Raiders won the final eight matches.

Bradley coach Ben Smith never likes losing, but he had nothing but positive feelings after Thursday’s match.

“I don’t think the final score indicates how close this match was, but it was a tale of two halves for us.  They are the best team in the state and we went toe-to-toe with them for the first seven matches as the score was tied at 15 midway through,” Smith said while the Bradley wrestlers were rolling up the mat.

“We’re trying to learn how to win big matches like this against teams like Baylor and that’s why we benefit from wrestling them.  I never thought that we got outfought tonight, but there were at least four matches we lost where I felt like we had a shot to win.  We’ve got to win those to get over the hump, but I think we showed that we can compete with anyone in the state.

“And even in the spots where we lost, we can only get better there,” Smith nodded.

Austin McClure gave Bradley a 6-0 lead with a second-period pin at 285.

Nick Corday and Kade Hartline knotted the score at 6-6 with decisions at 106 and 113 before Belcher and Patterson claimed Bradley’s last two wins.

While McClure and Belcher had pins for Bradley, Baylor’s four pins came from Garrison Dendy at 138, Collins at 152, Connor Duffy at 182 and Barrett Chambers at 220.

Anthony Manella had a major decision at 160 and David Harper a forfeit at 195 for Baylor’s other wins.

Baylor will battle Creekview and Cass on Friday night before taking part in the Buford Invitational on Saturday while the Bears will be in the Garner-Dyer Invitational in Tullahoma on Saturday.

Bradley falls to 5-2 overall following the Baylor loss.

BAYLOR 49, BRADLEY 15

(Match Began At 285 Pounds)

106 – Nick Corday (Bay) dec. Ethan Wilson, 10-4;

113 – Kade Hartline (Bay) dec. Easton Lipsey, 5-2;

120 – Luke Belcher (Brad) pinned Jackson Bond, 4:46;

126 – Taron Patterson (Brad) dec. Micah Tisdale, 7-4;

132 – Noah Hurst (Bay) dec. Gaven Hughes, 10-3;

138 – Garrison Dendy (Bay) pinned Seth Gregory, 3:04;

145 – Chase Radpour (Bay) dec. Carson Palmer, 9-2;

152 – Luke Collins (Bay) pinned Austin Lynn, 1:20;

160 – Anthony Manella (Bay) major dec. Chase Stansberry, 12-0;

170 – Omar Alvarez (Bay) dec. Tyrone McDonald, 2-0;

182 – Connor Duffy (Bay) pinned Cody McDaniel, 1:04;

195 – David Harper (Bay) won by forfeit;

220 – Barrett Chambers (Bay) pinned Gavin Sewell, 1:38;

285 – Austin McClure (Brad) pinned Sam Christensen, 2:24.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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