HUXLEY — An impressive team win over an old conference rival and several individual highlights throughout their three duals from the Perry grapplers made a positive impression on Bluejay head coach Trevor Kittleson Thursday.
“We had several guys get some big wins for us at key moments and overall I thought we had a great night,” he said. “We have some guys out, so some new faces were able to go for us tonight. We are wrestling aggressively and showing hustle and that is always good, no matter what the result of a match is.”
Perry was a 60-11 winner over Greene County, who had only six wrestlers in action. The Rams scored a technical fall at 152 pounds and had a pin at 160 for their 11 points, while Perry recorded 48 points by forfeit, with Mana Martinez (113), Zach Thompson (120), Gisaveri Niyibizi (126), Jacob Thompson (145), Adan Medina (182), Alonzo Zarate (195), Juan Campos (220) and Tyler Soll (285) uncontested. Both schools left 106 open.
The Bluejay points came from a pin at 170 by Eli Saemisch, who stuck his foe in 5 minutes, 28 seconds, and with decisions of 8-3 from Zach Stewart (132) and of 15-12 from Justin Stammer (138).
A forfeit to Fernando Catalan (120) and a pin by Niyibizi (126) offset a loss by fall as Perry grabbed a 12-6 lead over Humboldt after three matches. Jacob Thompson and Troy Jahnke (152) both had pins, with Saemisch scoring a technical fall at 170 as the Perry lead stood at 29-22 with five matches remaining.
Humboldt moved into a 32-29 lead after two matches, with Zarate dropping a 3-1 decision at 220 as the Perry fell into a 35-29 hole.
“Alonzo was wrestling up a class for us and did well,” Kittleson said. “He was tied with his man at 1-1 late in the match and went for a takedown and got caught and gave up two points. He was upset with himself and felt he let the team down, but I told him I was proud of his effort and that he had been aggressive. I will never blame a guy for that.”
Soll received a forfeit at 285 that tied the dual at 35-all, but with the Bluejays having to leave 106 open, the Pirates slipped off with a 41-35 win.
Zach Thompson (120) won by fall and Niyibizi (126) by decision as Perry moved to a 9-0 lead against Ballard, with the Bombers receiving a forfeit at 132 for six points only to have Zach Stewart (138) record a 17-1 tech fall and Jacob Thompson post an 8-3 decision to increase the Bluejay lead to 17-6.
Jahnke picked up a clutch victory at 152, rallying from a 2-1 deficit with a takedown in the last second of the match for a 3-2 victory and a 20-6 lead.
Ballard had a pin at 160 to close to within 20-12, but pins from Medina (170) and Saemisch (182) made it 32-12 before a loss by fall at 195 and a forfeit to Juan Campos (220) moved the tally to 38-18. Soll rallied late with what Kittleson called “a great move” to score a pin at 285, with a pin by Martinez at 113 offsetting the 106 forfeit to give Perry the 50-24 victory.
Perry will finish their varsity regular season Saturday when they host the Raccoon River Conference tournament. Wrestling will begin at 10 a.m.
