Washington holds off Burlington

Washington boys wrestling picked up a much-needed dual win to keep pace in the Southeast Conference. The Demons entered Monday night’s match against Burlington in a four-way tie for first place.

Burlington made Washington work for a win. But four pins and a technical fall helped put the Demons over the top in a 41-35 victory.

“We got some guys (making) some improvements,” Washington coach Joel Keller said. “So they were excited about sharing those tonight in front of the home crowd and also pulling out that win.”

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Both teams were deadlocked at 29 before Blaine Rees stepped up in the 190-pound match. The junior pinned Burlington’s Owen Difederico in just 59 seconds to put Washington ahead.

“When he stalks the pounce, when he gets on people and he starts running the corners he’s shard to stop, and he’s actually really quick,” Keller said. “When he’s quick, he scores.”

Rees’ performance was preceded by pins from Junior Valdez (150) and Caden Heisner (157). Heisner beat Rees for the fastest pin of the night, taking out Burlington’s Elijah Vandiver in just 29 seconds.

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Caden Greiner (138) kicked off Washington’s strong middle portion of the match with a victory by technical fall over Burlington’s Roy Brown. Greiner didn’t surrender a point in a 16-0 win.

“His motion is just constant and with that he’s dangerous,” Keller said. “He never stays in one spot and he’s unpredictable, and when he does that he scores lots of points.”

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Washington’s victory and Fairfield’s 45-36 win over Mt. Pleasant on Thursday leaves the Demons and Trojans tied for first place in the SEC along with Ft. Madison. All three teams have 3-1 dual records.

“It’s showing what we’ve been focused on all year long which is just constant progress, little by little,” Keller said of Washington’s SEC performances. “It’s put us in position individually and as a team to have a fun race here at the end.”

Burlington did prevail in the girls match 66-18, but claimed 48 of those points from forfeits. In the six matches it participated in, Washington went 3-3 against a Grayhounds side that boasted four returning state qualifiers from last season.

“They’re a really tough team and overall I’m pretty happy with how my girls wrestled,” coach Anne Vittetoe said. “We’ve got some improvements (to make). We need some more offense. We need to be quicker. But overall I’m happy with it.”

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Brynnlee Flynn started the night with a pin over Kinsley Coy after a marathon 5:15 match at 100 pounds. Nora Stoutner (115) won six more points for Washington with a pin of Burlington’s Sandreah Pierre-Campbell.

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Ryha Wellington (140) also had a lengthy match, and pinned Burlington’s Mia Oddo in 5:08. Oddo reached the 2A state championships at 135 pounds last season.

“Burlington came out of the gate pretty hot on that one and Ryha had to weather the storm there for the first few seconds,” Vittetoe said. “But she’s holding her own against some returning state qualifiers this year and that’s exactly what we want to see.”

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Washington (boys) 41, Burlington 35

106: Double Forfeit

113: Gavin Navarre (Burlington) over WASH (For.)

120: Brody Bolander (BURL) over Johan Recendez (WASH) (TF 17-1 2:14)

126: Edwin Cortes (Washington) over BURL (For.)

132: Payton Kenney (BURL) over Clayton Bartholomew (WASH) (Fall 3:14)

138: Caden Greiner (WASH) over Roy Brown (BURL) (TF 16-0 5:15)

144: Jax Rohrer (BURL) over Cash Vargas (WASH) (Fall 1:24)

150: Junior Valdez (WASH) over Wyatt Sullivan (BURL) (Fall 1:28)

157: Caden Heisner (WASH) over Elijah Vandiver (BURL) (Fall 0:29)

165: Jace Kinzenbaw (WASH) over BURL (For.)

175: Adrian Perez-Hall (BURL) over Mark Chenoweth (WASH) (Fall 1:21)

190: Blaine Rees (WASH) over Owen Difederico (BURL) (Fall 0:59)

215: Xavier Rice (BURL) over Nerick Raymundo (WASH) (Fall 0:53)

285: Rudy Wolfe (WASH) over BURL (For.)

Burlington 66, Washington (girls) 18

100: Brynnlee Flynn (WASH) over Kinsley Coy (BURL) (Fall 5:15)

105: Shila Cline (Burlington) over WASH (For.)

110: Grace Navarre (BURL) over Cherry Lindsey (WASH) (Fall 3:13)

115: Nora Stoutner (WASH) over Sandreah Pierre-Campbell (BURL) (Fall 3:06)

120: Sarina Cline (Burlington) over WASH (For.)

125: Landry Jones (BURL) over WASH (For.)

130: Brooklyn Sparrow (BURL) over WASH (For.)

135: Brielle Bailey (BURL) over WASH (For.)

140: Ryha Wellington (WASH) over Mia Oddo (BURL) (Fall 5:08)

145: Ednine Saint-Aime (BURL) over Bella Venenga (WASH) (Fall 1:44)

155: Amaziah Twillie (BURL) over Colbie Greiner (WASH) (Fall 0:57)

170: Macy Peterson (BURL) over WASH (For.)

190: Kylee Hill (BURL) over WASH (For.)