Bethel-Tate’s Zack Gutknecht fell to Western Brown’s Jed Marlow via pin in 3:08 in the in-school dual at Western Brown on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017.

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Bethel-Tate’s Zack Gutknecht fell to Western Brown’s Jed Marlow via pin in 3:08 in the in-school dual at Western Brown on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017.

By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor

The Bethel-Tate Tigers’ wrestling team is one of the top-ranked teams in the Division II-III coaches poll this season, and they had a tough task ahead of them on Thursday, Dec. 21 as they traveled to Western Brown to dual the Broncos.

Western Brown also earns several votes in the Division I coaches poll, entering Thursday’s dual in seventh place. By the time the matches were wrestled and the scores tallied up, the Broncos had defended their home turf with a 54-21 win.

The dual started off well for Bethel-Tate. Bradley Lewis pinned Western Brown’s Justin Noble in the 220-pound weight class to start the match. Lewis’ pin came 3:16 into the match and gave the Tigers a 6-0 lead.

The Broncos cut into that lead on the next bout, with Seth Jermer defeating Jayce Glenn 7-2 to cut the Tiger lead to 6-3.

The match then cycled back around to the lightweight classes, with Joe Reinhart for Bethel-Tate taking on Western Brown’s Owen Bingamon. Bingamon pinned Reinhart in 1:09 toput the Broncos on top 9-6. They did not trail the rest of the dual.

State placer Brandon Lucas hit the mat againstBethel-Tate’s Dylan Bradley, pinning the Tiger in 1:09 for a 15-6 Bronco lead.

Western Brown’s Jed Marlow then pinned Zack Gutknecht in 3:08 to give the Broncos a 21-6 lead.

Trey Sander got the Tigers back on the board in the 126-pound class. Sander defeated Western Brown’s Ezra Marlow in a 3-1 decision to take the points, giving the Broncos a 21-9 lead.

The Broncos earned back-to-back pins in the 132-pound and 138-pound classes. Tanner Donathan pinned Donnie Harrison in 4:27 in the 132-pound class while Seth Taylor pinned Bethel-Tate’s Austin Carter in 3:15.

In the 145-pound class, Mikey Whittington pinned Western Brown’s Chad Robinson in 3:04, cutting the Broncos’ lead to 18 at 33-15.

Derek Spears got the Broncos back on track with a pin of Jonah Blankenship in the 152-pound class. Spears’ pin came at the 1;06 mark of the match between the pair.

In the 160-pound match, Bethel-Tate’s Matt Hall defeated Western Brown’s Kennedy Sizemore, making the score 39-21 Broncos.

Western Brown won the final three matches. Dylan Mosher pinned Cooper Dunn in 1:15, while Eric Altman earned a 7-3 decision over Owen Holtke.

Finally, Nate Owesn fell to Western Brown’s Davey Stamper via pin in 2:20.