Demons rise in MP

MT. PLEASANT — A Southeast Conference boys wrestling win on Thursday night at home would have put Mt. Pleasant in prime position for a second-straight conference title, but the visiting Washington Demons had other plans.

Instead, it was Washington that answered the call, as the Demons took down their rivals 47-24 to not only stay in the conference race, but jump into a four-way tie for first place.

“We’ve been talking about this dual for the last week,” said Washington head coach Joel Keller. “We talked about executing, and it was great to see them stick to their game plan long enough to be successful.”

After a decision win by Washington’s Joseph Schreiber at 113, Mt. Pleasant battled back with two-straight pins that took a combined 1:49, as Levi Evans and Lane Beckler won the 120 pound and 126 pound matches via first-period pins. That gave the Panthers a short-lived lead, at 12-3.

Washington won the next four weights, including pinfalls by Clayton Bartholomew (132) and Caden Greiner (144). Josiah Tiffany won a match at 138 after getting injured on an illegal move, and 150-pounder Junior Valdez won via technical fall to put Washington on top 26-12.

“After our downfall against Ft. Madison last week, we really had to question ourselves,” said Keller. “We spent all week making ourselves better.”

Mt. Pleasant, however, didn’t go away quietly, at least not over the next two matches. Ramzy Davis and Keegan Birdsell went back-to-back with pins at 157 pounds and 165 pounds to bring the lead down to 26-24.

Washington, however, closed it out by taking the next four weight classes. Mark Chenoweth had a big pin in the final second of the first period at 175 pounds. Blaine Rees won via forfeit at 190. Brayden Vermillion won at 215, on a 28-second pin, and Rudy Wolfe outlasted Mt. Pleasant’s Juan Lopez in the match of the night, a tiebreaker victory for Wolfe at 285.

“We match up well with them, but we lost matches that we shouldn’t have lost,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Anthony Blint. “This is a tough sport. I told the guys in the locker room, now we’ll see how you come back.”

Due to Fairfield’s loss in Ft. Madison, everyone in the conference now has a loss in the SEC. Washington and Mt. Pleasant are both 2-1, as are Fairfield and Ft. Madison, making it a four-way tie at the top. Burlington is still in it at 1-1, while Keokuk sits at 0-4.

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The Mt. Pleasant girls wrestling team upended Washington 36-24 in a dual that saw three actual matches take place. Mt. Pleasant’s Paris Phosy and Quintrie Lee picked up pins at 115 and 120, while Washington’s Ryha Wellington won at 155.

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WASHINGTON 47, MT. PLEASANT 24 (BOYS)

106: Double Forfeit

113: Joseph Schreiber (WASH) over Aven Beauchamp (MOPL) (Dec 7-5)

120: Levi Evans (MOPL) over Johan Recendez (WASH) (Fall 0:45)

126: Lane Beckler (MOPL) over Edwin Cortes (WASH) (Fall 1:04)

132: Clayton Bartholomew (WASH) over Jefferson Avalos Ramirez (MOPL) (Fall 0:39)

138: Josiah Tiffany (WASH) over Charlie Bohnenkamp (MOPL) (Inj. [time])

144: Caden Greiner (WASH) over Kolbein Ostby (MOPL) (Fall 1:51)

150: Junior Valdez (WASH) over Landon Yocum (MOPL) (TF 17-1 4:18)

157: Ramzy Davis (MOPL) over Cash Vargas (WASH) (Fall 1:22)

165: Keegan Birdsell (MOPL) over Caden Heisner (WASH) (Fall 3:29)

175: Mark Chenoweth (WASH) over Jackson Newman (MOPL) (Fall 1:59)

190: Blaine Rees (WASH) over (MOPL) (For.)

215: Brayden Vermillion (WASH) over Owen Ferch (MOPL) (Fall 0:28)

285: Rudy Wolfe (WASH) over Juan Lopez (MOPL) (TB-1 7-6)

MT. PLEASANT 36, WASHINGTON 24 (GIRLS)

100: Brynnlee Flynn (WASH) over (MOPL) (For.)

105: Double Forfeit

110: Double Forfeit

115: Paris Phosy (MOPL) over Cherry Lindsey (WASH) (Fall 1:05)

120: Quintrie Lee (MOPL) over Nora Stoutner (WASH) (Fall 3:47)

125: Katana Phangchanthong (MOPL) over (WASH) (For.)

130: Angelica Miles (MOPL) over (WASH) (For.)

135: Kiyah Sanders (MOPL) over (WASH) (For.)

140: Double Forfeit

145: Ryha Wellington (WASH) over Zenlynn Lee (MOPL) (Fall 2:51)

155: Bella Venenga (WASH) over (MOPL) (For.)

170: Colbie Greiner (WASH) over (MOPL) (For.)

190: Double Forfeit

235: Courtney Smith (MOPL) over (WASH) (For.)