By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
Mahomet-Seymour’s wrestling team, ranked No. 6 in Class 2A, ended the regular season by overpowering Taylorville and Effingham to win the undisputed Apollo Conference team championship.
The Bulldogs (21-2 overall) finished 6-0 in league matches after pinning a 53-18 loss on Taylorville and a 61-7 loss on Effingham on Thursday. In the two duals, M-S won 21 of 28 possible matches.
Individually, three Bulldogs won twice to end the season 6-0 in Apollo matches.
David Spencer (138 pounds) posted four of his overall six Apollo wins by pin. Wyatt Heimann (170) also had four conference pins. David Griffet (285) earned half of his league wins by pin.
Ben Stahl (220) wound up 5-1 in league matches with three pins, Lucas Hooper (195) was 5-0 and David Pogue (152) was 4-0.
Against Taylorville, Chance Decker (120) had the team’s fastest fall, 20 seconds.
Against Effingham, six Bulldogs registered pins with both Stahl and Griffet securing theirs in less than a minute. Jack Vaughn (182) needed 66 seconds to seal his fall. Decker, Spencer and Heimann also had pins.
Overall, 15 M-S athletes won at least one match during the six league duals and nine of them had at least one pin.
M-S will host a Class 2A regional on Feb. 3.
Boys’ basketball
M-S was held to 12 field goals and only Cory Noe made more than two in a 51-37 Apollo Conference loss to Lincoln on Friday.
The setback was the first for the Bulldogs in eight league games.
Noe hit a game-high 13 points. He cleared five rebounds and nailed two three-point shots.
Noah Benedict ended with seven rebounds and four assists. Brooks Coetzee scored six points.
A day later, the Bulldogs (16-7) jumped into a 20-9 lead after one quarter and blitzed visiting Canton 62-43 in the Central Illinois Mid-Winter Classic.
Noe led the way with 18 points and nine assists.
Benedict chipped in with 12 points and a team-high six rebounds.
Scoring nine points apiece for M-S were Holt Campion and Grant Coleman.
The Bulldogs return to action Friday at Mount Zion.
Girls’ basketball
The Bulldogs (12-10) closed out the week with back-to-back losses at home.
Normal West edged the Bulldogs 40-35 on Thursday and, a day later, Lincoln rallied in the final quarter for a 56-47 victory.
Erin Lenschow drained five three-point shots and scored 25 points against the Railsplitters. She was 5-for-7 from three-point range and 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
Amanda Franklin totaled 10 rebounds and eight points. Jessica Franklin had five rebounds, four assists and four points.
Abbie Velazquez scored five points and Cassidi Collins grabbed five rebounds.
M-S held a 37-35 lead after three quarters.
Against Normal West, M-S closed the final margin by outscoring the Wildcats 11-3 in the fourth stanza.
Lenschow tallied 11 points to go with eight rebounds and three steals. She hit two three-pointers.
Amanda Franklin had 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Collins hauled down 12 rebounds and Kailyn Northrup hit four points.
Swimming
The Mahomet-Seymour boys’ swim participated in two meets over weekend, emerging victorious in both.
On Friday, Mahomet swam at Urbana and scored 364 points, prevailing over Pontiac(325), Bloomington Central Catholic(257), and Urbana(236).
Seniors Ryan Coulson, Connor Johnson, Miles Kroll, Dante Waters, and Garrett Williams were honored during senior recognition night.
Dante Waters led the team at Urbana, finishing first in the 100 free, second in the 100 back, and swimming on the second-place Medley Relay (Waters, Schable, Larson, Herriott), and on the second-place 400 Free Relay (Larson, Herriott, Antonnocci, Waters).
Gavin Groff finished third in the 500 Free and 200 Individual Medley, and swam on the third-place 400 Free Relay (Williams, Vanswol, DeMay, Groff)
Freshman Tucker Antonnocci broke one minute in the 100 free (58.30), and placed 4th in the event. Colin Schable dropped his 100 breaststroke time down to 1:18:22, finishing third in that event.
On Saturday, Mahomet traveled to Danville to compete against the Vikings and Charleston. Mahomet prevailed with a score of 103, beating Charleston with 95 and Danville 62.
First-place finishers in this meet included Dante Waters (100 Free), Gavin Groff (500 Free), and William Larson (100 back).
Second-place finishers in this meeting included Dante Waters (200 Free), and Gavin Groff (200 IM).
Third-place finishers included Ban Vanswol (200 Free and 100 Free), Evan Herriott (50 Free), William Larson (100 Fly), Colin Schable (100 Breaststroke)
Dalton Demay won the diving competition in both meets, scoring 187 points at Urbana, and 173 points at Danville.
