By JOSH BURRIS
The Norwell Knights came up with a 42-28 victory over the Bluffton Tigers in Wednesday’s wrestling match at The Castle.
Norwell won eight of the evening’s 14 matchups, with six of them coming by fall.
While the Knights won most of those matches the right way, coach John Johnson liked that his team was able to lose the right way throughout the match as well.
“I told the guys we’ve got to come out and we’ve got to score early to get points on the board. We’ve got to finish the right way with our falls and pins. But then on the flip side, we’ve got to lose the right way,” Johnson said. “Those were where I think we wrestled smart, and that’s what helped us.”
Of Bluffton’s six wins, only three came by fall.
Norwell came out strong like Johnson wanted. After Bluffton’s Levi Johns started the night with a 13-2 win by major decision over Jason Prough at 106 pounds, the Knights got three straight pins.
Cayden Smithley defeated Jed Logan at 113 pounds, Connor Dreiband defeated Ivan Amantecatl at 120 pounds, and Max Walker defeated Kaden Simpson at 126 pounds. That put Norwell ahead 18-4.
The Tigers broke the run when Landon Bertsch pinned Nicholas Stephens at 132 pounds.
Both sides then traded wins by decision, with Norwell’s Lane Lewis defeating Brody Lewis 6-3 at 138 pounds, and Bluffton’s Austin Lewis defeating Cody Cox 9-3 at 145 pounds.
Each side traded a win by fall as well. Norwell’s Elijah Behning pinned Charles Cornett at 152 pounds, and Bluffton’s Elliott Apps pinned Stuart McCabe at 160 pounds. That cut Norwell’s lead to 27-19.
Norwell increased its lead to 33-19 when Eli Johnson pinned Levi Kahn in the 170-pound match. The win was also the senior’s 100th career win.
Norwell then made an announcement and held a brief moment to recognize Johnson.
“I’m super proud of him,” Johnson the coach said about his son’s milestone. “I did want to recognize him for the hard work he has put in. It is an accomplishment.”
Norwell’s Hudson Kahn then met Bluffton’s Jacob Landis in the 182-pound matchup. Landis won by a 7-2 decision to make the score 33-22 with three matchups to go.
Tyler Luther sealed the deal for Norwell in the 195-pound matchup though, beating Cameron Farmer by a 7-3 decision to make the score 36-22.
Norwell’s Dalton Tomasek then pinned Noah Thompson at 220 pounds, and Bluffton’s Johnny Cruz pinned Ethan Michael at 285 pounds.
Bluffton coach Ben Sprunger was hoping for a better performance from his team in the match. He said he believes his team is better than what it showed, but just did not get it done on the mats.
“It was a little disappointing. We knew it was going to be close. We expected it to be a touch closer than it was,” Sprunger said. “Norwell came out and did a good job. They wrestled hard. We just didn’t have it in us today. We came up a little short.”
There were five exhibition matchups before the varsity match as well, and Norwell won four of them.
Zach Willson, Parker Capps, and Ryan Straub all won by fall, and Conner Lothamer won by decision. Bluffton’s Lorne Kahn got his team’s lone win by decision.
Both teams return to action on Saturday at New Haven’s Bill Kerbel Invitational.
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