CARBONDALE – Like many teams at this point in the season, the Baldwin High wrestling teams are missing competitors due to injuries and sickness.
Yet, despite the challenges, both BHS teams left Santa Fe Trail with dual victories last Thursday.
The defending Kansas Division II state champion girls squad rolled through its dual with SFT, winning 60-12. The Bulldogs won 10 of 12 matches.
On the boys side of the night, the Chargers won the first three matches of the dual. But the Bulldogs dominated after that, winning eight of the next nine matches. Baldwin won the dual by a score of 46-33.
Baldwin defeated Labette County, 59-18, in its first dual of the night.
“I thought we wrestled well for having so many kids who have been out for quarantine or injured,” Baldwin coach Kit Harris said. “So, a lot of these guys are just back this week. Considering that time off with only a couple of practices, I thought we wrestled really well. There are definitely things to improve on like always, but way more positives overall tonight.”
In the lone girls dual, four Bulldogs won matches by fall. Allee Darnell won the actual first match of the night after three byes – two won by Baldwin – and she pinned her opponent during the middle of the second round. Darnell won the 120-pound match in 2 minutes and 57 seconds.
At 126 pounds, Willow Dubois also won her match in the second round. She won in 2:33 to push the Bulldogs’ lead to 24-6. Between a pair of wins by an open weight class from SFT, Baldwin won the 138 match. Halley Flory threw Hailee Crosland to the mat and pinned her in the third round with 1:34 left in the match.
Madi Hargett capped the match with a dominant win at 235. Hargett pinned Sierra Dempsey in 54 seconds.
Santa Fe Trail’s lone win on the mat came at 155. Killee Waters pinned Baldwin’s Jaden Wharton in 1:22.
The Chargers began the boys dual against Baldwin with three-straight victories. Blake Slavin pinned Jayden Westgate in the second round to win the 106-pound match. Cody Black defeated Ayedin Johnson, 12-6, at 113 before Drake Kirby pined Gunnar Reichard in the second round. The Chargers led 15-0 before they were open at two weight classes, allowing Baldwin to cut the lead to three points.
Baldwin’s first win on the mat came at 138 when Jesse Hopper pinned Cody Slavin in 1:34. One match later, Chayse Jeanneret pinned Baldwin’s Dayton Peterson with just 37 seconds left in the match.
The Bulldogs won the next five matches. Winning them were Jaiden Michael (152) by tech fall (16-1), Dylan Williams (160) by first round fall, Wesley Martin (170) by tech fall (16-0), Jack Harvey (182) by second round fall and Zayne Nowak (195) by second round fall.
SFT’s Tage Skocny (220) and Cole Flory (285) won the final two matches of the night. They each won by fall.
Both teams will continue competing in preparation for the regional tournaments next month.
“Staying healthy is the name of the game right now,” Harris said. “That’s absolutely the number one goal, along with getting good practice sessions in and competing hard. I try to watch a lot of video with them this time of the year, and that’s where they learn a ton. This time of the year is the time to learn, so they know what to practice on in the practice room.”
– story by Jimmy Gillispie
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