Visiting former conference and current district rival Pacific, the Washington wrestling Blue Jays emerged with a 44-28 dual meet victory Tuesday.
The Blue Jays improved to 15-4 on the season in dual meets.
“Going into the match we knew we had to stay focused and not worry about everything that will be going on next week,” Washington Head Coach Josh Ohm said. “We are just concerned about the next match and trying to improve. I thought overall we did a good job of that and we will be right back in the room getting better in the morning.”
Pacific used the meet to prepare for Thursday’s Four Rivers Conference title showdown at Union. Both teams are preparing for the Class 3 District 1 meet at Farmington Feb. 8-9.
“I was happy with how we wrestled,” Pacific Head Coach Rob Schimsa said. “Washington has a solid, tough lineup and is well-coached. I don’t know how many seniors they have in that lineup, but I hope it’s a lot.”
The meet featured two matches which pitted MissouriWrestling.com ranked wrestlers.
In the 113-pound bout, Washington’s Parker Neptune (ranked seventh) pinned Pacific’s Zain Mathena (ranked eighth) in 1:29.
“Parker has looked extremely tough over the past couple weeks and I really think he is ready for the postseason,” Ohm said. “Mathena is a good, young wrestler who has really improved over the course of the year, but Parker went right out, scored the first takedown and finished the match.”
At 170 pounds, Pacific’s Austin Repp (first) pinned Washington’s Kyle Summers (fourth) in 3:23.
“Summers doesn’t get pinned very often,” Schimsa said. “Austin was ahead 2-0 at the time of the pin. He controlled the match. Austin is on a different level.”
Schimsa reported Repp (47-2) is now one win away from tying the school record for victories in a season after Thursday’s win over Union. He already has a 48-win season and Robert Todd also has won 48 for the Indians in a single season.
Jesse Knott and Justin Lawrence both had 46 wins in a season. Knott won his 46 matches while going undefeated as a state champion in 2007.
Ohm stated there were other key matches on the night.
“Going in, it was obvious that 113, 132, 152 and 170 were going to be the big matches with some high-level wrestling,” Ohm said.
At 132 pounds, Pacific’s Jeff Miller (ranked fourth by MissouriWrestling.com) earned a 12-1 major decision over Cody Summers. Miller had been wrestling at 138 pounds.
“Jeff hadn’t wrestled Summers yet this year,” Schimsa said. “He wrestled him three or four times last year. He controlled the match. I think moving down to 132 will be good for him.”
In the 152-pound match, Washington’s Spencer Baird earned a hard-fought 1-0 decision over Dalton Voyles.
“I thought Spencer came out pretty flat and Voyles really tried to take it to him, but Spencer never got worried and toughed out the win for us,” Ohm said.
“The highlight of the night, for me, was Dalton Voyles,” Schimsa said. “Even though he lost. It was a great match. Baird is solid. He’s ranked third in Class 3. Dalton had him taken down four times. He was behind him, but couldn’t get him to the mat. It was close. Dalton is right there. The best thing is he’s only a sophomore.”
Record Setter
The topnotch action didn’t end with those matches. Washington’s Nicholas Solter started the night with a Washington milestone. His 20-5 technical fall over Matthew Schimsa (in four minutes) helped him set a new school takedown record.
“Solter set the new single-season record for most takedowns in a single season that was previously held by Adam Brinker,” Ohm said. “If Nicholas continues to wrestle on his feet for the remainder of the year the way he is now, it is a very real possibility that he will set the new career takedown record by the end of the season. And that would be quite an accomplishment for only taking him two years to do it.”
Solter is ranked fourth by MissouriWrestling.com.
Remaining Matches
At 138 pounds, Washington’s Josh Luck earned a 12-4 major decision over Devin Somers.
Pacific’s Joon Kim (145) pinned Izeck Elbert in 3:45.
“Joon wrestled really well,” Schimsa said. “He won a match he was supposed to win. This time of the year, you have to win the matches you’re supposed to win and try to take a couple matches you’re not expected to.”
In the 160-pound division, Washington’s Caleb Summers pinned Curtis Paglusch in 42 seconds. Summers is ranked fourth in Class 3 by MissouriWrestling.com.
Jeremy Monehan of the Blue Jays earned an 8-3 decision over Andrew Cooper.
Washington’s Logan Baird posted a 16-0 technical fall over Jarrett Harrison at 195 pounds. The match was called at the 2:44 mark.
Matt Pecka of Washington earned victory in the 285-pound weight class, pinning Pacific’s Tim Toney in 22 seconds.
Pacific’s Josh Franek (106), ranked seventh by MissouriWrestling.com, pinned Washington’s Cole Fregalette in 55 seconds.
Each team picked up one forfeit.
Washington’s Jacob Kliethermes had his hand raised at 220 pounds as Pacific was open there.
Pacific’s Joseph Rind (120) was awarded a victory as the Blue Jays were open at that weight.
“Right now we are more concerned with staying healthy and keeping our match numbers where they need to be,” Ohm said. “It is nice to be throwing in our JV kids into dual lineups on a pretty regular basis and still getting the wins we need to take the duals.”
