The Patrick County High School wrestling team traveled to Dan River High School last Wednesday night for a quad match with host team Dan River, Chatham and Hargrave Military Academy,
The Cougars won all three matches by very close margins; they beat Chatham 37-36, Hargrave 45-36 and Dan River 42-39.
“I thought that we wrestled well in places but struggled in some others during our duals in the middle of the week,” said Coach David Morrison.
“We are still progressing and getting better but are still having trouble getting over the hump against the top tier competitors,” he explained. “Part of that seems to be that we are trying to figure out just how much effort to put out at any given moment instead of just laying it all out on the line; when you do that, you fall behind to guys who are just as good as you or a little better and a couple of points becomes the difference in your match,” he said.
“Against Chatham, I thought Ethan Rorrer, Alfredo Gutierrez, and Jeremy Gunter really wrestled well for us and helped us extend our lead, and Hunter Kenyon sealed the win for us with a big win at 195,” Morrison said.
“Against Hargrave, I feel like we all pretty well hit our stride, and we really started rolling. They had some guys that were really tough, but as a whole, the entire team wrestled well,” said Morrison.
“Our match against Dan River was really tight and ended up coming down to three points,” Morrison said.
“Brian Lange avenged a previous last second loss by pinning his opponent, and Colt Martin also had a huge win picking up a pin in over time that really helped us out,” Morrison said.
Lange (113) went 3-0 on the night, picking up two pins and a forfeit. Ethan Rorrer (120 lbs.) was 2-1, winning one match with a 10-2 decision and a 1:46 pin in the other. Alfredo Gutierrez was 3-0, claiming two pins in the first period and taking a forfeit at 125 lbs.
Jeremy Gunter was 1-2 at 132 lbs. His win was with a 2:46 pin against Chatham. Colt Martin was 2-1 with two pins, including an OT pin in 6:28 against Dan River. Tyler Stanley (145 lbs.) was 2-1. Jerimiah Anderson (152) was 1-2. Jacob McNulty (160 & 170 lbs.) won two matches.
Shemar Hill (170 & 182 lbs.) won two matches with forfeits. Hunter Kenyon was 1-2 at 182 & 195 lbs. James Lane went 2-1 at 220 lbs. as did Tyvin Martin at heavyweight.
The Cougars finished the regular season with a 14-3 record.