Hawks fall to Wilton

It was a night of pins in Mid-Prairie on Thursday night.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, one too many went against them in their dual against Wilton.

Despite starting off Thursday night?s dual with a 30-6 lead, Mid-Prairie watched Wilton fight back and end up taking the meet 38-36 in a dual that went to the final match.

?A lot of our top guys didn?t get to wrestle (due to forfeits), but I was a little disappointed in a couple of the guys,? Mid-Prairie wrestling head coach Justin Garvey said. ?It?s just poor choices. A couple of the guys are making poor choices in what they are eating during the week and it showed up tonight.?

After trading forfeits at 195 and 220 to start off the dual, and a double forfeit at 285, the Hawks got a boost in the first match of the night.

Timothy Grephel was locked in a battle with Wilton?s Colton Berggren, and after a strong first period, got into danger in the second period.

The ship was righted in the third, as Grephel got Berggren on his back and picked up the pin at 5:13, sparking a run by the Hawks.

?It was a back-and-forth match and Timmy was able to get ahold of his guy and keep him there for a long time and get that pin,? Garvey said. ?We knew we needed that if we wanted to win the dual. He was in a couple of hairy spots there, but he got it done.?

After Grephel?s win, the Hawks won the next three matches, with Duncan McCain winning by forfeit, Josh Murphy pinning Wilton?s Reid Johnson at 1:18, and Eli Steckly winning by forfeit.

Then Wilton got things going in its direction with 132-pounder Logan Mays pinning Blake Murphy at 1:34.

Wilton took the next five matches, picking up three pin falls, a technical fall and a 6-1 decision which clinched the dual victory.

Mid-Prairie?s Cameron Tolander picked up a win by forfeit in the final scheduled match.

?We need to refocus mentally right now,? Garvey said. ?We have the talent and the ability, but we need to focus and reassess our goals. Guys are going to have to step up and figure out what they want out of the season.?

On the night, there were a total of four wins by forfeit for Mid-Prairie, and both match wins came by fall in a combined time of 6:31.

?They are going to have to look inward and decide if being a state qualifier is what they want,? Garvey said. ?I?m only talking about a couple of guys here, because there are a bunch that are doing things right, but some of these guys need to refocus and straighten their heads out.?

If the team is able to get focused and in the right mindset, Garvey thinks this team can go far in the postseason, which starts on Feb. 7.

?I have really high expectations,? Garvey said. ?We have a lot of talent and we are young. I think the young part is our disadvantage a little bit, but we have a lot of talent. I think if we wrestle well at the sectional tournament, we have a chance at regional duals, but they just have to show up and perform.?

Mid-Prairie will travel to Center-Point Urbana for a tournament on Saturday, before a dual at Northeast-Gooselake on Saturday.