Jeremy Ratliff
Reporter
The Bluejay varsity wrestling squad may not have been at the top of their game in Thursday night’s 39-33 loss to D.C Everest, but when the guys did snag a win, they did it big in front of their hometown crowd.
Following a pair of Evergreen victories to open the night night – including a 13-11 nail-biting OT loss by Brody Gehrke at 138 – Aidan Ball came up with a huge pin in the 145 class after just 1:17.
The ‘Greens stole away with another pair of wins before Tanner Pettits’ convincing 9-0 major decision at 160. Brody Zocher (195) and Collin Zoellner (285) made quick work of their opponents, each scoring a pin in under 2 minutes, in 1:24 and 1:29 respectively. Devon Schultz capped off the night for Merrill with a 16-1 technical fall at 126.
“We knew it was going to be a tough duel,” commented first-year head coach Brian Suchocki. “We matched up well, but we also knew we were going to have to make some things happen for ourselves to win, like winning the close ones.
“Winning those can really change the outcome of a duel. We may have lost, but overall I think we wrestled very well. We had some inexperience in a few matches, but on the flip side we had all three of our seniors, Tanner, Collin and Aidan, get wins.”