Panthers, Wildcats clash on the mats

MT. PLEASANT — The Mt. Pleasant and Columbus/WMU boys and girls wrestling teams kicked off the season against one another on Tuesday night in Mt. Pleasant.

The Panther girls grabbed their first win of the season, 15-6, while the boys fell to Columbus/WMU 61-18.

“For the freshmen and sophomore’s this was the first time in the varsity lineup for a lot of them,” Mt. Pleasant head coach Anthony Blint said. “It was a great showing for them guys. Overall the guys did a really good job.”

It was a monumental moment for girls wrestling as it was the first meet for both teams since becoming a sanctioned sport.

The girls kicked things off on Tuesday night as Mt. Pleasant’s Alexis Wagner downed Columbus’ Quinn Smith by fall.

Natalie Parrott added three more points to the Panthers total, 9-0, after a hard fought 5-4 decision victory over Dahlia Valdez.

Mt. Pleasant’s Jayden Housch grabbed what would be the Panthers final points of the night, pinning Dakota Storm to put the Panthers up 15-0.

Columbus’ one win came from Audrey Hoback. Hoback downed Mt. Pleasant’s Bianca Bain by fall to give the Wildcats six points.

On the boys’ side, Mt. Pleasant got down early with a forfeit in the 285 pound match. That would mark the first of what would be five total forfeits for the Panthers coming at 113, 120, 195 and 220.

On the contrary, Columbus forfeited just one match at 145.

In the first match of the night at 113, Jacob Nelson of Columbus set the tone of the night, downing Mt. Pleasant’s Sawyer Fulton by fall in 1:59.

After two Panther forfeits, the Wildcat’s Ty Scorpil pinned the Panthers Charlie Bohnenkamp in 38 seconds to win the 126 match.

Columbus got another fall victory in the next match, this time from Bowen Thomson who defeated Roen Bailey in 5:28 in the 132 pound match.

Mt. Pleasant’s first win came from Ramzy Davis in a back and forth battle with Alex Venzor. Daivs would end the 138 bout in 5:28 by fall.

After a Wildcat forfeit, Gavin Kerr of Mt. Pleasant and Sheaden Adams did battle, with Kerr coming out on top by fall in 5:06.

Columbus would take the final five matches as Trevor Phillips downed Jaxsen Stuecker by major decision, 10-2, at 160. Cole Storm pinned Jahmal Dodson in 1:17 at 170. Riley Kaalberg and William Birdsell went all the way to sudden victory, with Kaalberg taking the match 14-12 at 182.

The final two matches of the night were forfeits.

“I told them it’s hard to simulate a real match in practice,” Columbus/WMU head coach Andy Milder said. “They found out tonight the experience when someone else is fighting me it harder than in the room. We gotta fight to the end.”