Rockets ramble past West Greene grapplers, 46-21
ROGERSVILLE — After dropping the first bout Wednesday night, the Jefferson-Morgan wrestling squad rattled off 28 consecutive points, en route to a 46-21 victory over West Greene in Section 2-AA (2-A) action.
For the season, the Rockets (3-0, 2-0) have outscored the competition in team matches by a 175-46 margin.
“We all know that we have a lot of expectations this season,” J-M coach Mike Lesko said. “The standard is always the standard at Jefferson. We knew West Greene would give us a fight tonight and they were not going to back down.
“Our first tournament we were really out of shape, but since then we have really worked hard on getting back into shape. Nobody was tired tonight and everyone did their job. Sure we made some mistakes, but they are correctable and I liked where we are at.”
The Pioneers (0-3, 0-2) got on the scoreboard in the first match of the night at 126, as Kolten Richter picked up a hard-fought 6-1 decision over Jason Dotts.
“It was a tough match tonight against a quality opponent in Jefferson,” West Greene’s Kory Bissett said. “But, you have to take positives out of it and I liked our energy. We fought and we were not intimidated. I feel like we are pretty in shape for it being so early in the season, but as a team, we want to improve every match.”
The next three matches all went J-M’s way, as Austin Goldsberry (132), John Demaske (138) and Jason Miller (145) scored pins to turn the tide.
“The younger guys look up to the seniors like John, Jason and Ryan (Zalar),” Lesko said. “They have been wrestling for us for years it seems like, and they know what we expect from them. They set the tone in practice and you really win this type of match in the practice room. It always starts with preparation, and those kids know all about that.”
At 152, Trevor Kniha recorded a 13-3 major decision for the Rockets, followed by a first period pin by Ryan Zalar at 160.
After there was no contest at 170, West Greene snapped the visitors’ point streak at 182 with an 11-4 decision by Dalton Wildman over Jason Perkins.
“Takedowns were the difference maker for Dalton,” Bissett said. “He was able to consistently win on takedowns and was very active in his stance. He is a tough kid and that win was important for him to get his confidence going the rest of the season.”
The squads traded points the next two matches, as J-M’s Billy Bowlen had a first period pin at 195 and Will VanNorman gave the Pioneers a 6-1 decision at 220.
After a scoreless first period at 285, Ian Wolfe picked up a huge pin for the Rockets at 3:38 against Trevin Bedilion.
“Ian had a big pin for us at 285,” Lesko said. “He saw the preseason rankings and saw that Bedilion was ranked higher than him. He used that to motivate him and he has shown excellent work ethic this year. He wanted this match and he knew how big it was.”
The teams exchanged forfeits the next two bouts with J-M’s Damon Belford (106) and West Greene’s Joey Chapman (113), before Sheldon Phillips gave the Pioneers the final points of the night after a pin at 120.
Both teams will have the rest of the week off and will compete in the Southmoreland Christmas Tournament on Dec. 27-28.