Wrestlers take pair of home wins

By DALE STUBBLEFIELD / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Bobby Bland, of the Warren County wrestling team, wraps up Oakland’s Miles Taylor during their match in the 171-pound division Thursday at the Charlie Dalton Gym. (Dale Stubblefield photo)

The Warren County High School wrestling team continued its run of success on Thursday, as the Pioneers held a tri-match with Centennial and Oakland by winning both matches in the Charlie Dalton gym.

“We didn’t peform very well tonight, but we still came out on top and that’s a good thing,” said head coach Matt Turner.

“The guys were a little flat tonight but they did what they had to in order to win. The Oakland match went down to the final match and I’m very proud of how our kids picked things up when it got close.”

The Pioneers hand their hands full against the Patriots, narrowly taking the match with a 39-37 decision. Bobby Bland started things off for Warren County in the 171-pound class, but fell to Miles Taylor as Oakland took an early 6-0 lead. At 189 Mark Chambers gave Warren County its first win, when he pinned Richard Hawks. Jon Paz won by pin-fall over Michael Murphy in the 215 division and Jonathan Kelly pinned Alex Jennings to win the 275-pound class.

The Pioneers had to forfeit the 103 division but still held a 18-12 lead as Rush Reedy took the mat. Reedy won the 112 division with a 10-0 decision over Michael Gechele. Freshman Aaron Miller fell to Oakland’s Darryl Barney at 119. Casey Welch won in the 125 division by pinning Marcus Chancelor. Warren County lost the next two matches as John Carmichael fell in the 130-pound class and Bobby Rampp fell to Justin Anglea at 135.

Senior Donnie Roach gave the Pioneers some breathing room when he pinned Adam Householder in the 140 class. The Pioneers had to forfeit the 145 match and Cody Spivey fell to Oakland’s Will Boone at 152.

Oakland held a 37-33 lead going into the final match as Pioneer Aaron Thomas hit the floor to take on John Stombaugh in the 160 division. Thomas pinned Stombaugh giving the Pioneers the team victory.

Warren County downed Centennial 54-24 in the first match of the night.

Last Saturday the Pioneers’ Welch finished second at the Soddy Daisy Tournament at 125 and Roach also brought home a second place trophy.

Warren County will take on Independence and Siegel at home on Tuesday as the Pioneers finish the regular season.