A trip to Stayton for a conference duals meet turned into a single showdown between Philomath and the Eagles. And in a match that came down to the final bout, the Warriors pulled out a 39-35 victory.
In the eight matches that materialized on the mat, Philomath won five of them. The thriller of the evening came in the 182-pound weight class with sophomore Jared Gerding taking a 6-5 decision over Stayton’s Lyric Burroughs.
Freshman Cameron McConnell had the quickest pin of the dual when he defeated Isabel Morgan in 36 seconds in a 113-pound match. Junior Ben Hernandez pinned Wyatt Hooper in 3:29 at 120 and senior Blake Niemann took care of Conrad Baxter with a pin in 2:56 at 126.
Senior Blaise Pindell ended up with a pin in 5:50 over Connor Hollenbeck in a 170-pound match.
The Eagles put together victories at 132, 145 and 160 to make things interesting in the team points battle.
Philomath recorded forfeit wins at 106 (sophomore Ellie Morton) and 285 (senior Joseph Choi) while Stayton picked up forfeit points at 138, 152 and 220. There was a double forfeit at 195.
Coach Troy Woosley mentioned that there were also a few exhibition matches involving females and junior varsity wrestlers. Morton, junior Taylor Mussati, junior Vincent DeMasi, freshman Colton Faust, freshman Lucas Bourguois and junior Chase Ringwald each had victories.
Philomath now turns its attention to the Screaming Eagle wrestling tournament at 10 a.m. Saturday at Santiam Christian in Adair Village. Nineteen schools are scheduled to send wrestlers to the meet.
The PHS girls are scheduled to compete in the Lady Dragon Invitational on Saturday at Dallas.
Philomath 39, Stayton 35
Wednesday, Jan. 19 at Stayton HS
Wt Result 106 Ellie Morton, Philomath, won by forfeit 113 Cameron McConnell, Philomath, pinned Isabel Morgan, 0:36 120 Ben Hernandez, Philomath, pinned Wyatt Hooper, 3:29 126 Blake Niemann, Philomath, pinned Conrad Baxter, 2:56 132 Mauro Michel, Stayton, pinned Caleb Blackburn, 3:47 138 Eli Howard, Stayton, won by forfeit 145 Donald Morgan, Stayton, pinned Ryder Zitlau, 1:47 152 Travis King, Stayton, won by forfeit 160 Jason Ritchie, Stayton, tech fall JJ Lewis, 16-0 (4:44) 170 Blaise Pindell, Philomath, pinned Connor Hollenbeck, 5:50 182 Jared Gerding, Philomath, dec. Lyric Burroughs, 6-5 195 Double forfeit 220 Owen Platt, Stayton, won by forfeit 285 Joseph Choi, Philomath, won by forfeit