Mules Swat the Hornets of Saline 55-9
Red Out night is always a special night for the entire Bedford wrestling program, but it is just a little more special when you beat a rival! The Mules did just that last night in front of a great crowd. The Mules put together one of their best performances of the year as they defeated Saline 55-9.
The Red Out began with junior Connor Bartlett coming out to the middle of the mat as an honorary captain. As many have seen on our home page, Conner has been battling cancer and returned home recently from a very, very long stay at U of M's Mott's Children hospital. It was amazing for him to be there as his presence had an unbelievable impact on our team evident in their performance.
The tone of the dual was set in the first match when the Mules sent out freshman Erik Simmons at 103 lbs. Erik wrestled his best match of the year as he defeated a wrestler that had just beaten two ranked wrestlers the weekend before. His victory gave the Mules a 3-0 lead. Next up was Marcus Rollins. He ran into a tough kid and suffered a second period pin - Mules down 3-6. Chase Grzegorczyk went out and dominated his opponent and got a tech fall, 20-15. Mules back on top 8-6.
Next up was our first senior of the night, Cade Sutterfield at 125 lbs. He came out on fire in what may have been his last match at The Corral. He went out in style and pinned his opponent to put the Mules up 14-6. Junior Will Gorman had one of the most exciting matches of the night and pulled out a victory in the last few seconds to put the Mules up 17-6. The Freshmen Dynamic Duo were the next two matches and neither of them disappointed with state-ranked Rollie Denker getting a 13-0 major decision and Randy Boisselle getting a second period pin to put the Mules up 27-6.
Senior captain Conner Frantz had another one of the great matches of the night. He was tied 4-4 with just seconds left when he finally turned his opponent to get two back points as time was running out - final score 6-4! This put the Mules up 30-6. Conner's brother, Logan, dominated his match at 152 lbs and got an 11-3 major decision. Mules 34-6.
Senior captain Jeff Johnson came out against a tough opponent but was able to get a second period pin to get the Corral stomping. Mules up 40-6. Next up at 171 was state ranked junior Colin Jagielski. He faced one of his Team Relentless teammates that is familiar with his style. Colin came out attacking and got a second period pin. Mules 46-6. Cage Dye was next at 189 and fought hard all the way to the end. He wrestled solidly but in the end came out a little short losing 2-5. Mules 46-9.
Number 2 ranked senior captain Blake Wingate was up net at 215. He dominated his opponent from the start but couldn't quite get the pin - he won 11-5 to put the Mules up 49-9. Junior heavyweight Cole Bettencourt closed out the night in style getting a third period pin as the Corral went crazy. Mules 55, Hornets 9.
Overall is was a great night that was capped of with dominating victory. All of the seniors won on their special night and it was an amazing to see Connor on the bench and signing autographs with his teammates. The season is not done and still need your support. Varsity Gray is at Lincoln Park on Saturday and Red will be back on the mat February 2nd for the SEC championships at Ypisilanti Lincoln. Go Mules!