Shorthanded Brentwood Wrestlers Battle Back

Before any action took place on the mats, Brentwood’s wrestling team already faced an uphill climb on Tuesday night.

The Eagles were without five starters as they put their 8-1 dual record on the line against Sullivan and Missouri Military Academy during their triangular meet.

Sullivan opened things up with a 50-30 victory over MMA, which then defeated Brentwood by a 44-36 margin. The host Eagles bounced back by beating Sullivan, 42-34, leaving each team with a 1-1 mark.

“We wrestled well for what we had,” Brentwood head coach Roy Hughes said. “We had five of our starters out whether they were sick, injured or didn’t make weight. So we had to piece together a lineup.

“We’re all three young teams, but we’ve been solid most of the year. I guess everybody got a little bit of something tonight with each team getting a win. It’s not what I wanted, but hopefully we’ll learn from it.”

After watching Sullivan beat up MMA in the opening dual, Brentwood came out a little flat and wound up paying the price with a narrow loss.

Beginning at 145 pounds, MMA’s Matt Beckemeyer set the tone with a 16-0 technical fall in the third period against Jake Caragher. Tyler Jones answered for the Eagles with a pin in 3:42 against Nick Mabbs at 152 pounds before the match of the night took place.

MMA’s Grayson Jordane raced out to a 4-2 lead after one period against Tyler Patton at 160 pounds, but Patton took a 5-4 edge into the final period.

In a wild third period, Jordane got a takedown and three near-fall points to grab a 9-5 lead, which grew to as much as 14-7. That’s when Patton reversed the tide and appeared to stick Jordane’s back to the mat several times, but he was never awarded the pin.

Jordane finally broke free for a reversal and three more backpoints to secure the wild 18-12 decision.

“I think Patton had him pinned five or six times, but it’s a judgment call and I talked to the official afterward,” Hughes said. “That’s the way it goes sometimes. I wish it would have gone our way, but it didn’t. If it would have gone our way, we would have won the dual.

“But we shouldn’t have been in that position anyway because I felt there were three other matches that should have gone our way. Give MMA credit because their guys capitalized and worked harder than we did.”

MMA went on to earn victories by pin from Tristan Workman (171), Clay Workman (189) and heavyweight James Jacuzzi while also receiving forfeit wins at 103, 112 and 119 pounds to build a 44-12 lead.

Brentwood won the final bouts to provide the final margin as Ryan Vogeli (125) and Andy Dreyer (130) each had first-period pins over Edgar Compuzano and Patricio, respectively. Matt Carvalho (135) and Elie Moore (140) each earned a forfeit victory.

“In the first dual, we didn’t wrestle the way we’re capable of wrestling,” Hughes said. “We were tentative and didn’t come out in attack mode. And it showed in the end. We didn’t get the win because we were sitting back too much.”

Brentwood came out a different team against Sullivan.

Jones got the host Eagles rolling with a 1:50 pin against Ethan Jones at 152. That would turn into a theme as Will Hampel (171) followed by a 31-second pin of Alex Crooks, Adam Keck (189) had a 36-second pin against Luke Pryor and heavyweight David Rivera needed just 1:42 to pin Cody Negretti.

Brentwood gave away forfeits at 103 and 112 pounds, while neither team fielded a wrestler at 119 before Ryan Vogeli picked up a forfeit win at 125, leaving the dual deadlocked at 30.

“Before the Sullivan match, I told the guys you can sit there and hang your heads about it or you can come back and get a little angry because you don’t want another loss,” Hughes said. “They came out intense. I told them to attack the head and attack, attack, attack.”

Sullivan regained the lead when Josh Howell won by a 13-3 major decision over Dreyer (130), but Brentwood answered right back.

Carvalho (135) pinned Clayton Mayer in 1:47 followed by Moore (140) sticking Colby Beckett to the mat in 1:29 to secure the eight-point dual victory.

“I wanted them to force six minutes, and if you go six minutes with someone just don’t get pinned,” Hughes said. “Dreyer ended up going six minutes and didn’t get pinned by Howell, who is a really good wrestler.

“Our guys usually listen really well and respond well, too. I’m proud of them for the way they came back and wrestled. That’s what I expect of them. That’s the way we teach them on the mats.”

Brentwood, now 9-2 in duals, returns to the mat when it travels to Herculaneum at 5 p.m. Thursday before competing in the Fulton Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 22.