After picking up three county wins over the previous two weeks, the Creekview Grizzlies finished off their sweep of Cherokee foes last week, knocking off rivals Sequoyah, 66-9, and Woodstock, 45-25, Jan. 25 at Woodstock.
The Grizzlies, who defeated River Ridge, 50-18, on Jan. 11 and swept past Cherokee, 54-19, and Etowah, 38-26, on Jan. 18 at home, split their opening two bouts against Woodstock, with Cullen Castle securing an 18-3 technical fall at 120 pounds and the Wolverines’ Zach Shareef (126 pounds) claiming an 11-1 major decision.
Creekview, however, dominated from there, winning seven-straight to build a 39-4 advantage.
During the run, Michael Edwards (132) and Joe Hulen (138) got things started with major decisions. Austin Collett picked up a win by injury default at 145, and Hunter Udall edged Woodstock 152-pound standout Gunner Henderson, 3-2. Justin Pettyjohn (160) and Nick McClendon (182) then sandwiched pins around a 15-0, tech fall for Joseph Sorrentino (170).
Battling through the end, the Wolverines won four of the final five bouts, as London Demetriou had a 15-13 decision at 195, heavyweight Wes Pella pinned his counterpart in 42 seconds, Waldrop Samford (106) received a forfeit and Cody Beach won by way of a second period pin at 113.
(LEFT: In the most highly contested bout of the match, Sequoyah’s Dylan Hall (right) came away with a 4-3 victory over Creekview’s Joe Hulen in double overtime. Hulen and the Grizzlies, however, had the last say, defeating the rival Chiefs, 66-9, Jan. 25, at Woodstock, to finish 5-0 against county foes this season. Photo by Brandon Michea | Ledger-News)
Picking up Creekview’s final points, Brock Tupman (220) recorded a pin in the first.
Prior to defeating the Wolverines, the Grizzlies won all but two matches against Sequoyah, as Dakota Short (126 pounds), Chase Callahan (138), Hunter Smith (160) and McClendon each won by pin; Edwards and Castle posted 11-6 and 7-4 decisions, respectively; and Collett, Logan Ridings (195), Tupman, Cameron Kile (285), Luc Rowell (106) and Justin Goss (113) benefited from forfeits.
Working into double overtime, Chiefs’ 145-pound Dylan Hall came away with a 4-3 decision over Joe Hulen, and Brad LaSelva registered a pin in 1:48 to make up Sequoyah’s scoring.
Bouncing back from its opening-match loss, Woodstock dominated River Ridge, 65-0.
Jake Ingram (152), Duncan Morris (170), Demetriou and Samford recorded pins; Henderson won by tech fall; Chris Nani (138) and Shqiprim Shabani (160) earned decisions; and Shareef and Tristen Watts (120) received wins by injury default. Completing the scoring, the Wolverines received four victories by forfeit.
Although dominated by Woodstock, River Ridge did not go away empty-handed, defeating Sequoyah 48-30 in its opener.
Drawing first blood, the Knights’ opened with a 6-0 lead when Wade Jacobs (120) pinned is opponent in 1:20. Sequoyah rebounded to win the next four bouts with pins from Owen Wallace (126), Nick Fierke (132), Dakota Maksimovich (138) and Hall to take a 24-6 edge.
But with the Chiefs unable to fill out a full line-up card, forfeiting at 152, 285, 106 and 113, and the Knights picking up pins from Chaz Trettel (160) and Gage Rhoden (195), it was more than enough to launch River Ridge out on top.
