By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Fast and furious. Most people can hold their breath longer than some matches lasted, another was a hold-your-breath battle with more turns and spills than the car-chase movie franchise. When the checkered flag dropped, Bedford North Lawrence had too much horsepower.
On Senior Night, as the Stars honored upperclassmen Samantha Biel and Jason George, BNL raced away to a 66-18 triumph over Mitchell in the annual county clash on Thursday night. The Stars won eight weight classes with pins while dominating the mat and the scoreboard.
Speed? BNL won four matches in under 30 seconds. Thrills? BNL’s Patrell Childs won a wild one at 113 pounds, a collision with Ez Brazzel that had more gear shifts and rolls than a NASCAR crash. What a ride that was.
The Bluejackets, with only two victories on the mat, got left on the starting line.
“There was a lot of energy,” BNL coach Chris Branam said. “From the get-go, everyone came out with fire underneath them. That makes me smile. It was good to see as a coach.”
There must have been a competition to see who could post the fastest pin. That honor went to Jayden Johnson (14 seconds over Ella Roush at 120), but there were other notable qualifiers with Ely Benish (19 seconds over Nate Bowles at 138), Junior Arellano (21 seconds over Alex Kling at 285) and Ethan Stancombe (23 seconds over Tyson Stinson at 152) vying for that pole position.
“A lot of aggressive wrestling,” Branam said. “That’s something we’ve tried to instill in them. Go out there and trust in your abilities.”
Then came the Childs-Brazzel combat. The action was so rapid, with reversals and back rolls recorded at a dizzying pace, the official had to stop the match and recount to get the correct score. The first two minutes ended with a 10-8 Childs lead, although he was in just as much trouble as he was in control during that first period.
Childs finally locked down a hold than Brazzel couldn’t counter or slither away from, getting the pin at 3:15.
“I thought I was in trouble quite a few times,” Childs said. “I thought I won quite a few times. You do that in this sport. Sometimes I can almost get pinned, then come back and get the pin. We work on all this, drill on it, go through all of it. To do in an actual match, it feels great.”
“Wasn’t that wild?” Branam said. “A lot of back and forth. It was cool to see. You love the quick pins, but you kind of want to see some barn burners, some guys grunting it out.
“I didn’t like how close it was, I wanted Patrell to control that match a lot better. But one thing about Patrell, he’s really good about not letting it get in his head. That’s a quality you need as a wrestler.”
BNL’s other wins came from Jaxon Powell (clamping down Corbin Peters in 51 seconds at 170), Asher Arce (trapping Cody Howard in 1:46 at 182) and Tate Tanksley (topping Michael Gates in 1:33 at 195).
Mitchell’s victories came from Gage Brazzel (going the distance to stop George in 5:33 at 132) and Gus Gillespie (pinning Austin Clark in 1:18 at 160).
“We’re a very young team, very inexperienced,” Mitchell coach Greg Brown said. “We have a lot to work on. But we have improved over the last two months. There’s always room for improvement.”
BNL will return to action in the eight-team Paoli Invitational on Saturday. BNL’s four girls will compete in the regional at Franklin on Friday.
BNL 66, MITCHELL 18
106 – Wyatt Philpott, BNL won by forfeit
113 – Patrell Childs, BNL p. Ez Brazzel 3:15
120 – Jayden Johnson, BNL p. Ella Roush 0:14
126 – Jorj Filler, BNL won by forfeit
132 – Gabe Grazzel, M p. Jason George 5:33
138 – Ely Benish, BNL p. Nate Bowles 0:19
145 – Logan Borden, BNL won by forfeit
152 – Ethan Stancombe, BNL p. Tyson Stinson 0:23
160 – Gus Gillespie, M p. Austin Clark 1:18
170 – Jaxon Powell, BNL p. Corbin Peters 0:51
182 – Asher Arce, BNL p. Cody Howard 1:46
195 – Tate Tanksley, BNL p. Michael Gates 1:33
220 – Ian Norrington, M won by forfeit
285 – Junior Arellano, BNL p. Alex Kling 0:21
