WAYNE – Blue Devil fans had another chance to take in some wrestling action during a home dual Thursday night.
From the Wayne Jr/Sr high school gymnasium Wayne High hosted Battle Creek during parent’s night.
Of the 14 weight classes, nine were contested along with two exhibition matches. The Braves took control early filling all but one weight class to win 62-16.
Head Blue Devil coach Dave Wragge said Battle Creek is a tough team.
“They’re always tough,” said Wragge. “Finished well at the state tournament (and) a lot of really tough individuals. So, we were focused at wrestling our best. I think we did that a coupe weights and we didn’t do that at a couple weights. So, that’s just kind of how it turned out tonight.”
Battle Creek jumped out with five match wins, four by fall and one by technical fall to lead 29-0. The Braves won the next four of five matches by forfeit as Wayne recorded their first points from Mike Leatherdale (285) to trail 53-6.
Wayne High then split the final four matches with their two wins coming from Cameron Muhs (126) over Carter King by major decision (14-4) and Juan Vergara (138) pinned Kaden Warneke in 1:12.
Wayne High had a few wrestlers compete in a lower weight class.
“We were just going to put our best athlete on the mat wherever we can find a way,” Wragge added. “When you wrestle a tough team like Battle Creek, you just got to find a way to get your athletes with their athletes and that’s what we were going for tonight.”
Wayne High and Battle Creek are both back in action on Saturday, January 12. WHS will compete in the Schuyler Invite as the Braves will host the Battle Creek Invite with both meets starting at 9 a.m.
Final results:
145: Damien Kersten (Battle Creek) over Edwin Espino (TF 16-0 2:18)
152: Kobe Thompson (Battle Creek) over Cooper Zara (Fall 1:58)
160: Ty Heimes (Battle Creek) over Reid Korth (Fall 4:47)
170: Traven Croghan (Battle Creek) over Harley Wheeler (Fall 3:05)
182: Kase Thompson (Battle Creek) over Angel Sanchez (Fall 1:14)
195: AJ Hawthorne (Battle Creek) by forfeit
220: Austin Marx (Battle Creek) by forfeit
285: Mike Leatherdale (Wayne) by forfeit
106: Hunter Kreikemeier (Battle Creek) by forfeit
113: Boston Reeves (Battle Creek) by forfeit
120: Caydon McCracken (Battle Creek) over Reece Jaqua (Decision 3-1)
126: Cameron Muhs (Wayne) over Carter King (MD 14-4)
132: Owen Lade (Battle Creek) over James Dorcey (Fall 3:30)
138: Juan Vergara (Wayne) over Kaden Warneke (Fall 1:12)
152: (Exhibition) Kaleb Kummer (Battle Creek) over Jacob Anderson (Fall 2:57)
152: (Exhibition) Kaiden Hickman (Battle Creek) over Jacob Anderson (Fall 3:46)