CHARLESTON, Tenn. -- The Walker Valley wrestling Mustangs followed up Tuesday's win over East Hamilton with a decisive Senior Night victory over Ooltewah Thursday inside “The Stable.”
The Mustangs (15-1) will begin preparation for a short road trip to Bradley Central Tuesday then will host state champion Cleveland Thursday. The Walker Valley duals scheduled for Saturday have been cancelled due to weather conditions.
“It was a good senior night for our seniors. Ooltewah has improved. They fought us hard at every weight class,” said Mustangs head coach Al Morris. “We still, obviously, have things to work on, but for the most part. I thought we did pretty good. There were some guys out of the lineup still, and coach (Adam) Rains has been trying to put some things together for us to be as competitive as we can.”
The Mustangs basically used their established lineup with the exceptions of Gideon Hernandez who moved to 157 pounds and Chris Dempsey, who jumped up to 165.
Both moves proved positive for Walker Valley.
“He (Dempsey) ended up tech falling the guy and that guy had beaten Gideon the last time we wrestled them. It was just a little move to try and score more points and perform a little bit better,” explained assistant coach Adam Rains.
After spotting the Owls six points with an opening forfeit at 106 pounds, Walker Valley's Lucian Hook tied the match with a pin for the Mustangs. Michael Rich followed with a decision at 120.
Ooltewah picked up wins at 126 and 132 before Chase Ackerman put the Herd back on track with a quick 16 second pin at 138 that gave the Mustangs a 17-13 lead.
The Owls regained the lead picking up six points with a pin at 144 to move on top 19-17. Matt Campos put momentum back on the side of the Mustangs with a tech fall win at 150. Hernandez followed with a pin at 157 in front of Dempsey's tech fall giving Walker Valley a 33-19 advantage.
An Ooltewah pin at 175 cut it to 33-25 before The Mustangs' Troy Dyszkiewicz cruised to another tech fall victory. Jeremiah Townsend closed out the Senior Night win for Walker Valley with a pin in just over a minute qt 285.
“We're pretty much where we expected to be at this point in the season,” Morris said. “We're still improving. We've still got some bigger fish to fry down the road. It gets tougher next week.
(Email Richard Roberts at richardvol55@yahoo.com)