Blackman’s wrestling team defeated Siegel and Oakland in a wrestling tri-match Thursday night at Oakland High School.
Oakland got one win over Siegel as the teams are winding down their seasons and looking forward to the postseason.
Blackman and Oakland was the first match of the evening, and the two did not disappoint. The Blaze edged the Patriots 43-29 in what the two coaches called the best teams in the region.
“Definitely the best two teams in the region, no doubt,” Blackman coach Ronnie Bray said. “Our guys work hard, they were prepared and we are blessed to have kids buy into what we want to do,”
Blackman started out winning the first few weight classes. The Blaze began the match at 113 pounds. There are 14 weight classes that range from 106, the smallest, to the 238-pound heavyweight class. Matches consist of three, two-minute periods unless a pin fall or other means of victory are secured.
Justin Bradford and Alex Rose started the night off winning by pin fall and technical fall, respectively.
Blackman won the first four weight classes, but the Patriots came back and won four straight matches from 138 pounds to 160 pounds. Wins by Evan Harris, Ross Griffin by pin fall, and Joe David Bell and Dejon Glaster got them back into the match at 21-20.
Five straight wins by the Blaze from the 170 pounds to the 220-pound weight class clinched the match for the Blaze. The wins were highlighted by Arkansas Little-Rock signee Brooks Sacharczyk winning at 182. Sacharczyk was runner-up at the state championship last year and is ranked No. 1 in his weight class, and would like nothing better to close out his prep career with a state championship.
“Me and my partner do extra stuff in practice gunning for that state title,” Sacharczyk said of his wrestling partner Bowdy Boyce.
Siegel is a young team and took two tough losses to Oakland and Blackman by the scores of 72-9 and 75-5, respectively, but did have some highlights on the night.
Against Blackman in the 145-, 152- and 160-pound weight classes were the Stars’ highlights. At 152, Gunner Jackson defeated Cole Hays by technical fall for their only victory.
At 160 pounds, Austin Watson of Siegel and David Wilkinson of Blackman battled for six minutes as Wilkinson won the match 5-4.
Against Oakland, Siegel freshman Noah Todd defeated senior Kameron Bingham in a three-period match 2-1. Bingham, ranked fifth in the state at the 220-weight class, dropped a pair of matches to fall to 16-3 on the season. Sophomore Connor Milhorn also won at the 195-pound weight class for the Stars.
“I have high hopes for (Noah) Todd as a freshman. He came through the middle school program as well as sophomore Connor Milhorn,” Siegel coach Donovan Freeman said. “It is very important to have a feeder program because they are the future and the only way the program can grow. You have to have kids that have wrestled before they get to the high school level.”
Before the Blackman and Siegel match three girls matches were held, and Siegel’s Ashley Lorden won one of them as Blackman took the other two matches.
“She is a tough girl and she does not mind banging with the boys. Girls wrestling is really growing at the college level as more schools are offering scholarships,” Siegel assistant coach Jaron Pruitt said of Lorden. “(Ashley) Lorden has a real opportunity for college if she does not go the military route.”
