By Justin Sokeland
(MITCHELL) – Bedford North Lawrence has become the ZZ Top of wrestling. The Stars get legs and know how to use them.
With a focus on scoring strikes and takedowns, the Stars kept the mat official busy waving for points to be recorded in the scorebook. Those moves translated into scoring and pin opportunities as BNL took down Mitchell in the county rivalry meet on Thursday night.
BNL posted five pin wins and two major decisions while rumbling to a 51-27 victory over the Bluejackets. The Stars dominated the heavier weight classes to conquer their southern neighbors for the third straight year.
The Stars posted five straight pins in weight classes 160-220.
“Everyone has their own individual energies, but I think everyone left it all on the mat – like it should be,” BNL’s Gunner Connaughton said. “That’s like wrestling should be, honestly.”
Conner Smith started the pin streak by trapping Jason Sweet in 1:49 at 160 pounds. Drake Huber slammed down Jon Drake in 3:02 at 170, and Connaughton shook off an early deficit to stop Hayden Chilton in 1:40 at 182.
“He got a reversal on me, which I didn’t expect at the time,” Connaughton said. “He got my attention.”
Christian Brown decked Nate Tanglo in 4:48 at 195, and James Covey continued his run of success with a pin of Ethan Truelock in 1:22 at 2:20.
BNL also had overwhelming wins from Derek Hutchens (13-4 over Jessie Miles at 132) and Reese Hamblen (17-2 over Jacob Arthur at 145) for extra team points.
BNL coach Greg Stevens, obviously pleased with the win, was concentrating on how and how many, not who.
“I don’t want to lose to them, but the thing is my focus is the rivalries with our sectional competition,” Stevens said. “We’ve got so long, between now and the sectional, to get the practice in and do the things we’re trying to do. There’s a lot of things we’re doing right now. You can tell, we’re scoring a lot of points.”
The Bluejackets posted wins with Wyatt Woolston (17-12 over Brax Huber in a high-scoring battle of constant reversals at 113), Kris Dowden (pinning Jaden Trostle in 1:53 at 152) and Drake Peters (topping Tristan Hanners in 2:53 at 285.
BNL will compete in the Old Capital Classic at Corydon on Saturday.
BNL 51, Mitchell 27
106 – Brock Friend M won by forfeit
113 – Wyatt Woolston, M d. Brax Huber 17-12
120 – Emily Schrader, M won by forfeit
126 – Hunter Morris, BNL won by forfeit
132 – Derek Hutchens, BNL d. Jessie Miles 13-4
138 – Channlor Engleking, BNL won by forfeit
145 – Reese Hamblen, BNL d. Jacob Arthur 17-2
152 – Kris Dowden, M p. Jaden Trostle 1:53
160 – Conner Smith, BNL p. Jason Sweet 1:49
170 – Drake Huber, BNL p. Jon Drake 3:02
182 – Gunner Connaughton, BNL p. Hayden Chilton 1:40
195 – Christian Brown, BNL p. Nate Tanglo 4:48
220 – James Covey, BNL p. Ethan Truelock 1:22
285 – Drake Peters, M p. Tristan Hanners 2:53
