STUART — The first mat action of January was pleasantly similar to the initial results from December for the Woodward-Granger wrestlers as the Hawks overpowered a trio of opponents at the West Central Valley quadrangular Tuesday.
W-G opened with a 53-30 win over East Union, with a 63-12 romp over Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton following. A 51-24 thumping of the host Wildcats enabled the Hawks to leave with an unblemished mark in their first action of the second half of the season.
Forfeits greatly benefited the Hawks all evening, as in contested matches EU held a 30-17 lead, with W-G edging E/EH-K, 15-12, and WCV, 21-18. However, a win is a win, and no Hawk need apologize if the opposition could not send a wrestler onto the mat at a designated weight (W-G, for instance, left the 285-pound class open in all three duals).
Hunter Pierce (106), Ty Turner (113), Colt Palmer (120) and Ryley Saxton (126) were ready to go for W-G, but all three had no opponents awaiting them, resulting in the quartet each collecting three wins simply by being ready to wrestle.
Austin Scharlau (160) went to the mat three times and earned a trio of wins by pinfall, with Josh Saak (138) and Race Brant (152) both finishing 3-0 with each collecting a win by pin, one by decision and one by forfeit.
Tanner Vermaas (182) scored a technical fall while collecting a pair of forfeits, with Jordan Pierce (145) tallying a pin and receiving a forfeit while Travis Schieltz (145) lost by fall in his one match.
Cole Carman (132) was 1-2 with a pinfall victory, with Aaron Sperling (170) and Thomas Govig (195) both 1-2, with each gaining their win by forfeit. Freshman Jacob Kepford (220) was also in action for the Hawks but was unable to come away with a victory.
W-G will head north Thursday and join Belmond-Klemme at Eagle Grove for a triangular before making a trip west down Highway 141 Saturday for the Coon Rapids-Bayard Tournament.
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