Sweet Home grapplers ground up North Marion Thursday 65-8 to open the Capital Conference mat season.
Coach Steve Thorpe, although happy with his Huskies, said it is difficult to prepare for a match knowing there will be several forfeits.
“North Marion forfeited three weights and our JV blanked them because they didn’t have many guys,” Coach Thorpe said. “North Marion was solid at 135, 140 and 189. There’s just such a big difference in the way they wrestle and the way we wrestle It’s not just in style but in how they approach the sport.”
Several Huskies turned in sharp performances including K.C. Stokes, 130; Andrew Swanson, 103; Adam Zurcher, 135 and Daniel Brewer at 215.
“I was impressed with Daniel,” Coach Thorpe said. “He was down 5-0 after the first round but came back scoring a lot of points before he pinned Branum in the third round.”
Coach Thorpe said that although Matt Vassar was decsioned 13-7 by Willis, he had a good match.
“Matt was scoring on him and working hard,” Coach Thorpe said.
Levi McCubbins broke into the Husky varsity lineup at 160 pounds and decisioned Young 11-2 with David Helfrich moving into the 171 pound class and getting a forfeit.
Thursday’s varsity lineup will be the same lineup the Huskies wrestle at December 28-29 at the Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno, Nevada.
The Huskies will be one of some 80 teams from the West Coast and across the U.S. competing in the 25th annual event.
“This is a great opportunity for our wrestlers,” Coach Thorpe said. “This meet is highly respected. They use this meet as one of the national ranking tournaments.”
The Huskies will take a week off, then begin training for the tournament and the meat and potatoes of the Capital Conference season.
“We’ve had a few wrestlers out of the lineup due to injuries, so we’ll use this week to get healthy,” Coach Thorpe said.
Sweet Home 65 North Marion 8
103: Swanson dec. Newkirk 10-1; 112: Harnden pinned Gonzalez in 1:07; 119: Johnson won by forfeit; 125: Workman won by forfeit; 130: Stokes pinned Smith in 1:27; 135: Zurcher dec. Martushev 8-7; 140: Phillips was pinned by Roberts in 1:31; 145: I. Helfrich pinned Newkirk in 8:02; 152: Knight won on injury default over Lopez; 160: McCubbins dec. Young 11-2; 171: D. Helfrich won by forfeit; 189: Vassar was dec. by Willis 13-7; 215: Brewer pinned Brannum in 4:11; 275: Ellis pinned Jorgenson in 1:09.