Wrestling: Bulldogs grapple to third place at CM
The Highland wrestling Bulldogs had a stout showing in their first tournament appearance of the season, grappling to a third-place finish out of the 15 competing squads at the 37th Civic Memorial Holiday Wrestling Tournament.
Waterloo, which trailed East St. Louis by one point heading into the championship round, parlayed four thirds, a second-place finish and one championship into claiming the team title with 159 points.
East St. Louis was second with 139, while Highland finished right on the Flyers’ heels at 134.5. Rounding out the top five were Matoon (131.5) and East Alton-Wood River (130.5).
Completing the tournament from spots 6-15 were as follows: Vandalia (129), Benton (126), Jerseyville (112), Maplewood-Richmond Heights, Mo. (78.5), Jacksonville (76), Civic Memorial (67.5), Carlyle (52), Centralia (51), Herrin (39) and Freebug (26).
Highland’s strong day was highlighted by championship-caliber performances from junior Trent Rakers at 160 pounds and senior Brody Kirsch at 170.
“I thought I had a pretty good chance,” said Kirsch, who went 3-0 on the day to boost his season record to 5-1. “I didn’t know if I would get first or second, but I felt I could finish pretty high up.”
Rakers was one of the most dominant wrestlers of the day as he scored first-round pins in all three of his bouts.
After receiving a bye in the first round, Rakers pinned Jake Erslon of East Alton-Wood River in 1:46 in the quarterfinals. Next in the semifinals, Rakers had his toughest match of the day before scoring a fall over Waterloo’s Dylan Siebenberger with just eight seconds left in the match. Then in the title match, Rakers made short work of his opponent, pinning Deshawn Swedkand in a scant 50 seconds.
After qualifying for state last year as a sophomore, Rakers kept his record spotless on the season at 6-0.
After also getting a first-round bye, Kirsch pinned his first two foes, Mattoon’s James McElwee in 1:49 and Jerseyville’s Kydick Bell in 1:23 to advance to the championship match at 170. Kirsch blanked Benton’s Matthew Krug 6-0 in the final to wrap up his impressive day.
Highland junior Jacob Mitchell also had a good day after earning third place at 126 pounds. After his bye in the first round, Mitchell (5-1), who joined Rakers as a state qualifier a year ago, pinned Andrew Martin of Benton in 2:35 in the quarterfinals before suffering his first setback of the season on a 13-3 decision to eventual champion Cooper Secker of Freeburg in the semifinals. Mitchell rebounded to seize third place after needing just 59 seconds to score a fall over Andrew Nettles of Carlyle.
The HHS Bulldogs also received fifth-place finishes from Joe Gallo (106), Colton Brown (120), Devin Wills (145), Austin Hickam (152) and a sixth place from Brett Brown (195).
Highland is off all this week before returning to the mat for a triangle match on Tuesday, Dec. 15 at Civic Memorial, where the Bulldogs will face off against the host Eagles and the O’Fallon Panthers.
Then on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 18-19, Highland will compete at the ultra-tough 46th annual Mascoutah Wrestling Tournament.
This story was originally published December 7, 2015 at 9:20 AM with the headline "Wrestling: Bulldogs grapple to third place at CM."