Wrestling Finishes Quad-Match 2-1, Defeats No. 16 York
The Waynesburg University wrestling team began Saturday’s match with a 5-5 record, but would leave the day one win over .500 with a 7-6 record.
The Jackets were host of a quad-match Saturday, Dec. 10. The Jackets went 2-1 on the day and beat the No. 16 team in the nation, at the NCAA Division III level, York College. The team’s performance was pleasing for head coach Ron Headlee.
“I think we were talking about it tonight at practice. We didn’t have anyone wrestle anytime during the day where we thought ‘hey, they wrestled terrible,'” said Headlee. “They just wrestled really well throughout the day.”
The win was brought about by many members of the team, including four wrestlers who posted a perfect 3-0 record on the day. The first wrestler to hit the mats was sophomore Tristan Buxton, who won a close match against York’s Dylan Nuttell 8-7, and finished the day with a deciding victory against a Baldwin Wallace’s Chris Doyle, pinning him in 1:22. The final victory is one Buxton is proud of.
“I beat the kid two times before; it is always a huge battle,” said Buxton. “He got that early take down and I got out right away and we both took a shot at the same time and we butt heads and I kept my head strong and kept pressuring in and I stuck him.”
Buxton was just one of the wrestlers to post a perfect record, as sophomore heavyweight Jake Evans followed in his footsteps. Evans provided the final blows to the efforts of York and Apprentice School. The perfect party didn’t stop there, as the Jackets were joined by seniors Ryan Shank and Filippo Crivelli.
Crivelli was able to record his 100th win as a Jacket Saturday, an accomplishment that Headlee was proud to see befall Crivelli.
“That was a good win for him,” said Headlee. “That boy beat him twice last year, and I thought he looked real good in the win on Saturday and in the other wins, not having a let down after that.”
The wins, according to Buxton, helped to establish something he had yet to see from the team.
“I think we finally found our confidence, which is a big thing,” said Buxton. “I feel we just clicked as a team better than any other team I have been on since my freshman year here at Waynesburg.”
The confidence is something that head coach Ron Headlee has seen developing.
“It’s been one of our things this year,” said Headlee. “It’s just one step at a time and getting where we need to be at the end of the year.”
Buxton and Headlee both feel the second half of the season will be better, as the team is looking to fill a couple empty weight classes where they normally forfeit points.
“A lot of these matches, if you subtract one loss, it has us winning most of the time,” said Buxton. “It is just giving up those points is big, you can see it in the team score right off the bat.”
The Jackets are set for their next match at the Gator “Boots” Duals in Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday, Dec. 17. The action will start at 8 a.m.