Husky wrestlers rally to down Shamrocks

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January 8, 2009

 

By Ted Schultz

Ted.Schultz@TheNoblesvilleLedger.com

 

WESTFIELD -- Trailing 18-0 four matches into Wednesday night's Hamilton County battle, the Hamilton Heights wrestlers didn't panic.

 

The Huskies won eight of the final 10 matches, including six by pin, to rally for a 43-26 victory at archrival Westfield.

 

"I was a little disappointed with our start, but we rebounded," Heights coach Rick Willoughby said. "We got down 18-0, and we did something about it. Our kids got down 18-0 and got mad."

 

The Shamrocks used a decision from Robert Melby (189 pounds), a pin from Paul Parsley (215), a decision from Sean McCarthy (285) and a pin from Sparky Inman (103) to build the 18-0 lead. After Zach Powell (112) put the Huskies on the board with a pin, Westfield's Brady White (119) won by major decision to give the Shamrocks a 22-6 lead.

 

Heights then ran off seven consecutive wins, with Jarrid Logan (125) and Colin Bullock (130) winning by pin; Brayden Alley (135) winning by decision; Zach Bowers (140), A.J. Miller (145) and Matt Miller (152) all winning by pin and Wyatt Toller (160) winning by major decision for a 43-22 lead. Westfield's R.V. Peter (171) concluded the match with a major decision.

 

"We're a solid team from top to bottom, and if a team has a weakness, we're going to beat it," Willoughby said. "We got some kids healthy. We got our lineup adjusted and stepped it up a notch. Colin Bullock coming in at 130 and Matt Miller at 152 makes our lineup a lot tougher."

 

The key match came at 140 where Bowers scored a pin with 7 seconds left in overtime to give the Huskies their first lead at 27-22.

 

"The difference is pins," Westfield coach Terry O'Neill said. "We have to do something as a coaching staff to get the kids to have more heart. We get pinned in overtime. We get pinned when it's tied 4-4. We have to get more heart."

 

O'Neill was an assistant under Willoughby at Westfield until taking over as head coach in 2005. Willoughby is in his second year at Heights.

 

This is the third year the Huskies and Shamrocks have wrestled in a dual meet. Heights won by three points each of the past two years.

 

"I'm a little surprised (at Wednesday's margin of victory)," Willoughby said. "I knew it was going to be a tough match. There were some matches that I thought would go one way that went the other way."