By Fred Kroner
Senior Gage Decker was the individual winner for Mahomet-Seymour on Saturday (Dec. 2) in the 157-pound weight class in the 43-school Rockford East Wrestling Invitational.
Decker won all four of his matches to capture top honors. Two of his wins were by pin, including one in 50 seconds.
Decker, who is 7-0 for the season, posted a pin in the finals in 2 minutes and 24 seconds.
The Bulldogs had 14 participants and 10 secured places among the top eight in their weight classes.
One highlight came at 150 pounds, where M-S was able to entry two grapplers.
DeAndre Hughey won four of six matches and finished fifth. Kaleb Roberts had a 3-2 tournament record and took seventh. All three of Roberts’ wins were by pin, including one in 56 seconds. Hughey recorded two falls. His quickest was in 2:29.
Three Bulldogs captured fourth-place finishes: Justus Vrona (126 pounds), Talon Decker (138 pounds) and A.J. Demos (165 pounds).
Vrona and Demos went 4-2 in the tourney. Talon Decker ended 3-2. Vrona and Demos each registered four pins. Demos scored the school’s fastest fall of the day, 19 seconds. Vrona’s quickest pin was in 50 seconds. Talon Decker had three pins, the fastest in 1:26.
Colton McClure (120 pounds) took fifth, ending the day with a 3-2 record. The quickest of his three pins came in 57 seconds.
Also placing fifth for the Bulldogs was Lukas Alstetter (106 pounds). He was 2-2 overall with both wins by pin. His fastest fall came in 1:28.
The other Bulldog placers were Adam Dobrucki (132 pounds) and Noah Daniels (285 pounds), each of whom finished eighth.
Dobrucki was 2-3 with one pin (in 1:39). Daniels was also 2-3 with one pin (in 1:57).
Three other M-S athletes, who were 2-2 for the tournament and did not place, posted one pin: Preston Sriver (144 pounds, pin in 1:03), Cale Hillard (170 pounds, fastest of his two pins in 1:27) and Brock VanDeveer (190 pounds, pin in 4:56).
Overall, M-S athletes had a cumulative record of 37-28 with 29 pins. Thirteen Bulldogs recorded pins and 11 had at least one they finished in the first period.
The Bulldogs ended fourth in the team standings. Geneseo was the meet champion (232 ½ points) and was followed by Rochelle (223 points), Chicago St. Patrick (199 points) and M-S (172 points).
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Four Mahomet-Seymour wrestlers were victorious on Saturday (Dec.2) in a 17-school junior varsity tournament at Lincoln.
Winning their weight classes were Gideon Hayter (106 pounds), Liam Noonan (120 pounds), Corey Bell (132 pounds) and Hayden Hart (190 pounds).
Overall, 12 of 19 M-S competitors placed among the top eight, including two Bulldog entries at 120 pounds and also at 144 pounds.
The 120-pound weight class was a highlight for M-S. In the championship bout, Noonan defeated his own teammate, Garrett Waisath, 10-3.
For the day, Noonan was 4-0 with two pins, including one in 1:37. Waisath was 2-1 with two pins, including one in 1:57.
Hayter, Bell and Hart were all 3-0 for the tournament. Hayter and Hart recorded two pins. Bell had one fall to go with a technical fall.
Hart’s quickest fall was in 50 seconds, Hayter’s fastest fall was in 1:25 and Bell pinned his opponent in 2:00.
Noah Frank (215 pounds) was 4-1 for the day and suffered his lone loss in the championship match. He had three pins. The fastest was in 1:04.
Winning third place for the Bulldogs were Hawke O’Malley (144 pounds) and Kaleb Collins (157 pounds). O’Malley had two pins, one of which required just 41 seconds. Collins’ one pin was recorded in 5:07.
Conner Bennett (144 pounds) took third. He was 3-2 overall with two pins. The quickest was in 32 seconds.
At 138 pounds, Grant Munds ended in sixth place. He was 2-2 and pinned two foes. His fastest fall was in 3:52.
Winding up in eighth place for the Bulldogs were Aiden Banister (126 pounds) and Kody Ackman (150 pounds). Banister was 2-2 overall with one pin (in 29 seconds). Ackman was 2-3 with the fastest of his two falls coming in 1:17.
Other Bulldogs who did not place, but won one match by pin were Tristen Phenicie (138 pounds, fall in 4:17), Dominic Connelly (150 pounds, fall in 32 seconds), Camden Snodsmith (165 pounds, fall in 4:00) and Gabe Maya (175 pounds, fall in 1:56).
The quickest JV pin of the day was registered by Banister in 29 seconds.
In all, 16 of 19 Bulldog wrestlers logged at least one pin and 12 of the M-S athletes had at least one first-period fall.
M-S wrestlers had a combined record of 37-27 for the day.
In the team standings, M-S finished third with 214 ½ points, trailing only Lincoln Way Central (399 ½ points) and Lincoln (223 points).
The Bulldogs (2-1 in dual meets) open the home portion of its season on Tuesday (Dec. 5) with varsity matches against Centennial and Chatham Glenwood.
