WRESTLING: SBC Duals blog

Notes from the second day of the SBC Duals at Oak Harbor this weekend:

10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. matches:

Two of the three 10 a.m. matches were done within the hour. Edison posted a near-perfect 81-0 mark against Margaretta, with 11 pins, two forfeits and one decision in 14 matches. The first-seeded Rockets made short work of the Tigers on the center mat, 71-3, while Perkins cleared out St. Mary CC, 55-14. Perkins’ Tyler Mees edged SMCC opponent Angelo Calderon in the final bout between the Sandusky schools. With the match knotted at 3-3, Mees earned two points for a reversal with :22 left for a 5-3 decision. The 11:30 a.m. duals were much more competitive than the 10 a.m. ones, with one match (Perkins-Edison) going down to the second-to-last bout, while the Clyde-Port Clinton tilt went down to the last match. Port Clinton took the team lead in the third to final match, as the Redskins’ Derick Johannsen got an early advantage over Clyde’s Casey Flores. Johannsen battled for almost a minute to keep Flores on his back, and got the pin with around :30 left in the first. Port Clinton took a 32-30 lead. Flores dropped from the list of the unbeatens, falling to 3-1 on the weekend. The Fliers’ Eric Pumphrey avoided an epic last-second loss to Jacob Carrisales. Pumphrey led, 12-3, when Carrisales rolled for the advantage. Pumphrey narrowly avoided a painful pin versus Carrisales inside the final minute. Pumphrey held on for the 14-6 win and a 34-32 lead heading into the 145 bout, the final match of the dual. Clyde’s Kalob Andrews pinned Port Clinton’s Kevin Rarden with about a minute left in the third for the 40-32 Fliers victory.

1:15 p.m. matches:

The 1 p.m. Saturday Clyde-Oak Harbor dual became the center attraction after the 4-seed Fliers edged 2-seed Edison by virtue of a tiebreaker. The Rockets brushed past the Fliers easily, winning the dual 59-15. Oak Harbor 160 Konner Witt took down Clyde’s Brad Smith and recorded his 100th career victory in the first bout of the dual. The Rockets are steaming their way to a fourth consecutive SBC dual crown, with only Port Clinton and Edison left. While Oak Harbor homes in on the dual crown, the attention turns to today’s 4 p.m. match between Perkins and Clyde, which will most likely decide second place. Clyde and Perkins, both 4-1, hold tiebreakers versus Edison who is 4-2. Perkins will face off versus Huron at 2:30, while Clyde gets Margaretta. The Tigers and Polar Bears have struggled today thus far. Huron and Margaretta, both 0-5 in the SBC duals through five matches each, will face off at 4 p.m. The remaining unbeaten wrestlers (and this list may be slightly incomplete) are: (OH) Luke Cramer, Drew Stone, Alex Bergman, Zach Bergman, Jake Cramer, Ian Miller, Konner Witt, Mike Mallernee, Sean McGee; (E) Kyle Burns; (P) Michael Snyder; (SMCC) Alex Guerra; (C) Dylan Stiffler; (PC) Jacob Fleming; (H) Nino Majoy.

2:45 p.m. matches

Ian Miller pinned Port Clinton’s Kevin Rarden to win his 100th career bout. He’s the second Oak Harbor player to reach 100 wins today. With a win over Port Clinton, 6-0 Oak Harbor secured their fourth consecutive SBC Duals crown. Even if they lose in their final match versus Edison, they hold the head-to-head tiebreakers versus Perkins and Clyde. The closest match of the 2:45 round was actually between Port Clinton and Oak Harbor. This just goes to show how far that the Redskins have come, to be able to compete with a very, very good Rocket squad.

4 p.m. matches (preview)

There should be three solid, well-contested matches this round. Huron and Margaretta will face off, each hoping to get their first win. Neither has been really competitive so far, and each team will feel like they have a lot to prove. Perkins and Clyde, both solid teams jockeying for second place behind Oak Harbor, have positioned themselves solidly on the second tier of the SBC behind the Rockets. SMCC versus Port Clinton could be an amazing match. A St. Mary CC squad having a bit of a down year versus competitive Port Clinton. Edison, also on that second tier with Perkins and Clyde, lost a one-point match to Clyde and 42-21 decision to Perkins that was a little closer than the final score shows. They’ll take a break at 4 p.m., before taking on Oak Harbor on the first available mat.

4 p.m. matches

It was a relief to more than just the wrestlers as the match came to an end. The experience is really long for all the coaches, staff and parents. There were two really good matches in that final round: First, there was Stiffler versus Snyder in the Clyde-Perkins contest for second place, which took three overtimes to decide. Then there was the Bergman-Burns match in the 130 in the Edison-Clyde dual. It was fitting for the bout to go down to the wire, even though it didn't matter at the time for the team standings. Both the Stiffler-Snyder and the Burns-Bergman matches could be the matchups for the SBC individual tournament in mid-February. Stiffler and Bergman will have something to think about until that arrives.

One more note: I didn't get a chance to see it because I wasn't there on Friday, but the heavyweight rematch between Huron's Nino Majoy and Oak Harbor's Zach Sandwisch in the individual tournament looks like it'll be another one to watch. Sandwisch, with over 100 career wins, won the 2009 SBC heavyweight title, defeating Nino in the final round. Majoy handed Sandwisch a loss in the duals.