Warriors squeeze competition
Sports reporter
With almost three weeks off until its next varsity match, Marion High School wrestling coach Chad Adkins knew the Smoky Valley double dual was important.
Marion won both its matches Thursday, closing the night out with a 54-18 victory against Smoky Valley.
In the opening dual the Warriors held off a comeback by Hesston, winning 39-29.
The victories evened the Warriors' record to 2-2.
"We're really happy with the way it went before Christmas," Adkins said.
That's because despite winning 23 of their 34 individual dual matches, it was conceivable Marion would drop all four duals before the break. The Warriors had four open weight classes each match, giving up 24 points even before the dual began.
Instead the Warriors will be a .500 team coming back from break.
"We wrestled really well in the second dual," Adkins said. "The first dual we came out flat, but we did what we had to do to win."
In the opening match against Hesston, Marion got a rare break when the Swathers had an open at 103 and 112 pounds. Sophomore Riley Ross came back from an injury to wrestle his first match of the season at 119. Ross struggled from the beginning, as opponent David King kept him on his back most of the match. But Ross never gave up and didn't allow King to pin him. King held on to win 14-1, and close the gap to 12-4.
Freshmen Hank Collett and Charlie Holub got Marion on the winning track again. Collett won his match 5-2, and Holub pinned Monte Etheridge in 46 seconds.
Sophomore John Barr lost his first match of the season, 4-2, and Marion had three opens in a row, while Hesston had one.
That led to the 152-lb. match with Marion leading 21-19. Junior Casey Nelson tested his 5-0 record against Kyle Spencer.
While Nelson fought hard, and used his strength to avoid being pinned, Spencer defeated him handily, 17-6. Hesston took a 23-21 lead, but it was the last time they would be in front.
Senior Chris Freeby and junior Adam Depler pinned their opponents in 1:02 and 1:06 respectively to claim victory for the Warriors.
An open for Marion at 215 pounds and an open for Hesston at 275 capped off the dual with Marion winning 39-29.
The Warriors smoked the Vikings from start to finish in the second dual. Freshman Logan Richmond had another bye, and senior Chelsea Arnhold pinned Jake Coney in 1:43. Ross then used his anger from losing his first match to pin Jerin Srack in 39 seconds. Adkins said Ross was mad after his first match, but showed signs of last season, when he went 27-6, in his second match.
"He needs to put some weight back on, but he'll be all right," Adkins said.
Collett was pinned in the 125-lb. match, but Marion wouldn't lose again without a forfeit the rest of the night.
Holub, Barr, Nelson, Freeby, and Depler finished off the night with pins, en route to the 36-point victory.
Freeby and Depler's two victories each improved their records to 6-1, while Nelson's split dropped his record to 6-1 as well.
Freeby leads all Warrior wrestler with six pins, while Depler is second with five.
Marion won't wrestle again until Jan. 6 at the Hillsboro Double Dual. There it will take on Smoky Valley again, and get another crack at rival Hillsboro. The Trojans defeated Marion Dec. 9, 45-30. This time however, the Warriors will have senior Drew Looper back at 215 pounds, who has been out this season with an injured shoulder.
