by John Howley / sportingpumpkin.com
CIRCLEVILLE — Fairfield Union left town with two wins for its wrestling program Wednesday night as Circleville hosted the Falcons for a Mid-State League Buckeye Division match and neighboring Westfall came in for some non-league action.
The Falcons started off the night defeating the host Tigers 54-30 and then held off Westall 40-39.
The Mustangs came out on top 41-30 in the battle of Pickaway County schools.
“Against Fairfield Union I thought we did really good,” Westfall coach Will Breyer said. “We had some guys in and they stepped up and it was just trying to find one point somewhere where somebody doesn’t get pinned and we could have pulled that out.
“Circleville has some tough, tough young kids with a lot of heart, and I thought we did great there, too.”
The loss to Fairfield Union was Westfall’s first of the year — to go with 11 wins — on a night when the Mustangs were missing six starters. While none were out with COVID-19, they were sidelined because of contact tracing.
“It’s just week-to-week,” Breyer said of dealing with the virus. “Every week, it’s like a merry-go-round of kids that are out or in.”
With Wednesday’s duals starting with the 160-pound matches, Breyer liked how 152-pound freshman Bryce Wickline handled the pressure of being the last contest with the outcome of each dual still undecided. Down four against FU, he won a decision to close the gap to one and the Mustangs had a five-point lead against Circleville and he was able to close it out with a second-round pin.
“My freshman at 152, Wickline, had to step up both times at the end there,” he said. “You really shouldn’t have to ask a freshman to get a pin to win but he did his best and almost did it (against FU).
“Trenton Page fought hard and my upper weights did great,” Breyer added.
Circleville is fielding a young team this year and coach Trent Brooks said every day they’re working to get better.
“We had 12 kids tonight and 10 of them are freshmen and they’re learning every day,” he said. “A lot of them have been wrestling for a while so they’re hard-nosed kids but it’s tough when you wrestle senior-heavy teams like we did here tonight.”
Being able to add Westfall to the league dual gave the teams an opportunity for more competition in a year with virus restrictions and constantly changing schedules.
“This year we’re just trying to get matches,” Brooks said. “We knew Westfall was senior heavy and that it would be a good match.
“We’ve been very fortunate that we haven’t had any cases. We’re taking all the precautions we can,” Brooks said of his team. “They’re taking it like champs. They’re working hard and trying to get better every day. That’s all you can ask.”
Westfall 41, Circleville 30
160 – Calib Hampton (WF) pin Braylon Morgan 4:23;
170 – Lucky Donaldson (CV) pin Christopher Hossfeld 1:35;
182 – Trey Keeton (WF) pin Noah Jones 0:37;
195 – Starr Kelly (WF) pin Isaac Evans 0:37;
220 – Nathan Allen (WF) forfeit:
285 – Sam Arledge (WF) forfeit:
106 – Tony Hoty (WF) pin Landen Zarbaugh 2:56;
113 – Jacob Johnson (CV) pin Christian Furniss 3:00;
120 – Hayden Liff (CV) forfeit;
126 – Justyn Darnell (CV) forfeit;
132 – No contest;
138 – No contest;
145 – Trenton Page (WF) technical fall Kaiden Wade 17-2;
152 – Bryce Wickline (WF) pin Logan Holbrook 3:10.
Fairfield Union 54, Circleville 30
160 – Braylon Morgan (CV) forfeit;
170 – Lucky Donaldson (CV) forfeit;
182 – Noah Jones (CV) forfeit;
195 – Wyatt Carpenter (FU) pin Isaac Evans 0:56;
220 – Jeffrey King (FU) forfeit;
285 – David Seymour (FU) forfeit;
106 – Landen Zarbaugh (CV) pin james Worthington 1:30;
113 – Jacob Johnson (CV) pin Raymond Myers 3:58;
120 – Noah Patterson (FU) pin Hayden Liff 3:57;
126 – Skyler Dechellis (FU) pin Justyn Darnell 1:41;
132 – Jacob Egger (FU) forfeit;
138 – Bryar Miller (FU) forfeit;
145 – Michael King (FU) pin Kaiden Wade 1:30;
152 – Nathaniel McCandlish (FU) pin Logan Holbrook 1:54.
Fairfield Union 40, Westfall 39
160 – Calib Hampton (WF) forfeit;
170 – Christopher Hossfeld (WF) forfeit;
182 – Trey Keeton (WF) forfeit;
195 – Starr Kelly (WF) pin Wyatt Carpenter 4:54;
220 – Jeffrey King (FU) pin Nathan Allen 1:25;
285 – David Seymour (FU) pin Sam Arledge 3:35;
106 – Tony Hoty (WF) pin James Worthington 5:01;
113 – Christian Furniss (WF) pin Raymond Myers 4:10;
120 – Noah Patterson (FU) forfeit;
126 – Skyler Dechellis (FU) forfeit;
132 – Jacob Egger (FU) forfeit;
138 – Bryar Miller (FU) forfeit;
145 – Michael King (FU) maj. dec. Trenton Page 16-8;
152 – Bryce Wickline (WF) dec. Nathaniel McCandlish 11-7