The Blackman wrestling team lost its first dual match of the season to Wilson Central Tuesday night under the spotlight at Wilson Central High School. On a cold and rainy Tuesday evening, the gym had more spectators than usual. The opening match of the night was a dual between the Blackman and West Wilson Middle School wrestling teams. West Wilson won the contest and many parents and wrestlers hung around to see the big boys in action.
In what is always a highly anticipated matchup, the Blaze had their work cut out for them if they were to beat the #4 ranked Wildcats. The Wildcats are young but they are not without talent. They are starting several freshmen but they all have quality wrestling experience.
After a few JV matches to get the crowd warmed up, the main dual started out at 120 pounds with the Wildcats striking first. In a blur, the Wildcats opened things up and earned an 18-0 lead over the Blaze with pins over Savage, Elam, and Marlatt. At 138, Senior Daniel Bradford breathed some life into the Blaze bench with a thrilling third period reversal and Pin over the Wildcats Prentice Belcher. Blackman would lose at 145 and rebound with three straight wins. At 152, Jalen Brown gave up a late reversal but still soundly defeated Levi Stone in a 4-2 decision. Coming into the lineup at 160, Gabe Gomez wrestled very strong and after dominating the first period, he got a slick reversal and a convincing PIN over Central’s Michael Muhler.
Sophomore Brooks Sacharczyk followed with a strong showing and a pin of his own to put the Blaze within one point. (22-21 Wildcats)
At 182, Blackman Junior Landon Fowler bumped up to 182 to take on Central’s Sinjin Noga. The match was close and both wrestlers were very determined to win. Down 4-2 late in the third, Landon almost had a reversal to tie things up but the action was called a stalemate as Fowler worked for the reversal sending the Blaze bench into a cacophony of boos and hisses. At the final buzzer, it was 4-2 decision for Noga.
From there, things got tough for the Blaze as Central took all of the next five bouts by pin. Final Score – Blackman 20 – Wildcats 55
Pictures from the dual can be found on our PHOTOS page.
Blackman will take a rest for Christmas and will be back to Wilson Central on January 6th for the Wildcat Invitational.
Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
Blackman 20 – Wilson Central 55
120: Thomas Borders (WICE) over Jeremiah Savage (BLAC) (Fall 0:00)
126: Thomas Oakley (WICE) over Liam Elam (BLAC) (Fall 0:00)
132: Alan Fort (WICE) over Austin Marlatt (BLAC) (Fall 0:00)
138: Daniel Bradford (BLAC) over Prentice Belcher (WICE) (Fall 5:42)
145: Alex Pergande (WICE) over Dylan Stebbins (BLAC) (TF 20-2 0:00)
152: Jalen Brown (BLAC) over Levi Stone (WICE) (Dec 4-2)
160: Anthony Gomez (BLAC) over Michael Muhler (WICE) (Fall 2:19)
170: Brooks Sacharczyk (BLAC) over Joshua Rodriguez (WICE) (Fall 0:55)
182: Sinjin Noga (WICE) over Landon Fowler (BLAC) (Dec 2-0)
195: Parker Bennett (WICE) over Spencer Layne (BLAC) (Fall 0:00)
220: Kolin Miller (WICE) over Bowdy Boyce (BLAC) (Fall 0:00)
285: Michael Kramer (WICE) over Jamil Hughes (BLAC) (Fall 0:00)
106: James Keith (WICE) over Alex Rose (BLAC) (Fall 0:00)
113: Grant Fetters (WICE) over Peyton Adams (BLAC) (Fall 0:00)
(WICE UC -1.00)
(BLAC CM -1.00)