Kernels record 35 total takedowns in 37-24 ESD dual win over Brandon Valley

It was evident that the Mitchell wrestling team was making a strong effort to practice its takedowns Monday night.

Mitchell — which swept the final eight matches of the night — piled up 35 total takedowns in its match against Brandon Valley, winning the Eastern South Dakota dual, 37-24.

“I wanted them to work on some things tonight,” Mitchell coach Travis Carpenter said. “We hadn’t wrestled in a while, and now we haven’t practiced in a while, so some of that was us trying to work on some things.”

Between Jordan Reiner and Justin Greenway, the two totaled 16 takedowns in two victories. Reiner finished the night as the takedown king with nine.

No takedown meant as much all night as Cole Johnson’s in the first-period when he came out on top of a scramble and put his opponent straight to his back for two extra points.

Johnson won the 171-pound match 5-2 after taking a 4-0 lead in the first.

“He wrestled hard to start out with and then kind of got a little bit out of it,” Carpenter said. “But to his credit he battled through it and got a win. That’s all you can ask for.”

Of Mitchell’s four pins on the night, only Lakin Neugebauer’s came in the first period, but even he picked up three takedowns before putting his opponent in a butcher.

The longer matches helped the Kernels work on their feet after having more than three weeks off before their dual win over Pierre Friday.

Every Mitchell wrestler who won his match on the night earned the first takedown, and after Reiner’s nine on the night, Justin Greenway (152) had seven.

Brent Havlik had five takedowns and Jason Greenway had four.

“We were decent on our feet,” Carpenter said. “We’re still not doing some things position-wise and we’re not real solid everywhere, but tonight our takedowns were pretty good.”

Kyle Larson (215) and Wes McPherson (285) ended the night with pins. Larson’s second-period pin put the match out of reach for the Lynx at 31-24. Then McPherson worked on all aspects of the sport. He got a takedown in the first, a reversal in the second and then earned the pin with 26 seconds left in the third.

Reiner had five takedowns in the first and ended the match with four seconds remaining in the second period on a technical fall with his ninth to win 23-8.

Fresh off winning the Jerry Opbroek Invitational Saturday, Brent Havlik (160) could only muster one takedown in the first before grabbing two more in the second and third periods for a 12-4 victory. He got his fifth takedown with about 10 seconds to go and made sure to ride out his opponent for the major decision.

“We need the mat time right now,” Carpenter said. “We were the team on Saturday with the fewest amount of matches for our kids, so it was nice to get in and get some matches in.”

Ryan Buck (140) started the string of eight wins. His takedowns came with three seconds left in both the first and third periods for a 7-2 win.

Jason Greenway (145) pinned his opponent midway through the first period and Justin Greenway — who wrestled his sixth match of the year Monday night since returning to the team from an injury — picked up a 14-4 major decision.

The only wrestler of the night to not win his match after earning the first takedown was Landon Neugebauer, who lost the 125-pound match 7-4. Alex Herrick (103) lost the opening match of the night, 5-3, and Matt Larson (119) and Ben Kummer (130) were each pinned.

Mitchell is 3-1 in ESD duals this season and won’t wrestle another until Thursday, Jan. 28 against Watertown in Mitchell. The Kernels’ next action is Saturday when the team travels to the Winner tournament.

Mitchell 37, Brandon Valley 24

103: Adam Presler (B) dec. Alex Herrick, 5-3; 112: Lakin Neugebauer (112) pinned Braden Heidbrink, 1:39; 119: Noah Halma (B) pinned Matt Larson, 1:06; 125: Mason Bender (B) dec. Landon Neugebauer, 7-4; 130: Ryan Angerhofer (B) pinned Ben Kummer, 3:57; 135: Nate Monger (B) wins by forfeit; 140: Ryan Buck (M) dec. Andrew Amundson, 7-2; 145: Jason Greenwy (M) pinned Cole Powell, 3:22; 152: Justin Greenway (M) major dec. James Burkamn, 14-4; 160: Brent Havlik (M) major dec. Danny Larson, 12-4; 171: Cole Johnson (M) dec. Garrett Bratlund, 5-3; 189: Jordan Reiner (M) technical fall Sam Seydel, 23-8, 3:56; 215: Kyle Larson (M) pinned Mike Vigants, 2:36; 285: Wes McPherson (M) pinned Dylan Trebar, 4:34.

Tags: brandon valley, sports, kernels, wrestling