Late flurry pushes Shamrock wrestlers past Millers

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December 10, 2008

 

Late flurry pushes Shamrock wrestlers past Millers

 

By Ted Schultz

Ted.Schultz@TheNoblesvilleLedger.com

 

NOBLESVILLE -- A young Noblesville wrestling team had perennial power Westfield on the ropes with five matches remaining Tuesday night.

 

The Millers led 21-19 after nine matches. But the Shamrocks won the final five to pull out a come-from-behind 39-21 victory.

 

"We wrestled just about as well as we could tonight," Noblesville coach Tom Knotts said. "We had a couple of kids that had headlocks. If we secure those, we're right there. They're just more physical than us and more experienced than us. They're very good with the legs, and we did all right countering it until we got to the low weights."

 

Westfield took the lead for good when Sparky Inman won a decision at 103 pounds. Conlin Krebs (112) and Brady White (119) followed with major decisions to give the Shamrocks a 30-21 lead, and Parker Bankert (125) used a big escape to pull out a 9-7 decision and clinch the match at 33-21. Will Mueller (130) finished things off with a pin.

 

"I'm real proud of our team because we're out a state-placer in R.V. Peter, and we're out two semistate qualifiers in (Paul) Parsons and (John) Floor, and we had to juggle our lineup around to cover for those kids and the guys that stepped in did a real nice job," Westfield coach Terry O'Neill said. "Normally, it's Floor and Parsley and Peter and (Robert) Melby that carry the team, but lo and behold, here we got big wins from Inman and Krebs and at 119 with Brady and 125 and 130 and kind of separated ourselves right there. It was nice to see those guys who normally the role players of our team come through and take the leadership role when we needed them."

 

The Shamrocks took an early 3-0 lead on a decision by Drew Billman (130), but the Millers tied it on a decision by Alex Bowers (140) and took the lead on a pin by Wayne Specht (145). Westfield's Brock Robinson (152) won a major decision to cut the lead to 9-7 before Noblesville's Garrick Williams (160) and Andy Fleenor (171) won decisions to push the lead to 15-7.

 

The Shamrocks used back-to-back pins from Melby (189) and Andrew Petty (215) to take a 19-15 lead. Steven Rushforth (285) then scored a pin to give the Millers their final lead before Westfield's frantic finish.

 

"In two years, we'll be able to wrestle with anybody," Knotts said. "I have some talented kids. They just have to grow up. If they stay with the system and do what we ask them to do, they'll be competitive with anybody. It's just a matter of time."

 

"Coach Knotts is doing wonderful things over here at Noblesville," O'Neill added. "They'll be a force to be reckoned with soon. They're very much improved."