WATERTOWN -- Watertown High School's wrestling team got back in the win column Thursday night, posting a 35-31 win over Mitchell in an Eastern South Dakota Conference dual in the Civic Arena.
The victory snapped a string of six consecutive dual losses for the Arrows, including five to teams ranked in the top 10 in Class A. The win pushed the Arrows' record to 8-11 overall and 4-2 in the ESD. Mitchell fell to 3-2 in the league.
"We needed a win after last week's brutal schedule and the guys went out and got it," said Watertown head coach Bob Hirsch. "Mitchell has a solid lineup and they are men on top. We needed to get out quick."
Like most of the Arrows' matches this winter, the key was the lower weights.
Alex Burghardt got the ball rolling with a narrow 5-4 win at 103 pounds.
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Mitchell forfeited at 112 pounds and the Arrows' Ryan Lappegard ran his record to 23-2 on the year with a technical fall over Skyler Neugebauer at 119 pounds.
Mitchell got on the board with a win at 125, but Sawyer Hoffman and Cameron Mack countered with decisions at 130 and 135, respectively, for Watertown.
At that point, Watertown led 20-4. Brent Solum's pin at 140 provided the Arrows with an extra boost and a 26-4 advantage. Mitchell's Brent Havlik picked up a decision over the Arrows' Scott Stone at 145, but Watertown freshman Austin Manchon countered with his first varsity win (an 8-6 overtime decision) and a 35-7 cushion.
"We lost at 140 and 152 and that was too much for us to overcome," said Mitchell head coach Travis Carpenter. "Those were matches we expected to win and we couldn't recover from that."
The Kernels flexed their muscles for the Civic Arena crowd, winning the final five matches by fall. Austin Havlik, Cole Johnson, Jordan Reiner, Kyle Larson and Wes McPherson recorded pins for Mitchell.
"It's so important to get that lead early, especially against a team like Mitchell," Hirsch said. "Those were two huge wins for our guys at 140 and 152. Mitchell will score a ton of points in the tournaments with those horses on top. They are men on the mat and they showed that tonight."
Added Carpenter: "Up at the top you have to be happy with McPherson. He weighed in at about 191 pounds, and he wrestled a guy who is about 240 pounds."
The Arrow junior varsity rolled past Mitchell 79-0 in the preliminary bout.
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Mitchell is at the State A duals in Brookings Saturday.
Varsity
Watertown 35, Mitchell 31
103: Alex Burghardt, W, over Lakin Neugebauer, 5-4; 112: Ethan Urban, W, won by forfeit; 119: Ryan Lappegard, W, over Skylar Neugebauer, 24-8; 125: Nick Kummer, M, over Logan Pearson, 12-4; 130: Sawyer Hoffman, W, over Jason Greenway, 8-1; 135: Cameron Mack, W, over Steven Skinner, 8-4; 140: Brent Solum, W, pinned Andrew Rumbolz, :56; 145: Brent Havlik, M, over Scott Stone, 5-2; 152: Austin Manchon, W, over Chance Parr, 8-6 (OT); 160: Austin Havlik, M, pinned Austin Manzey, 4:32; 171: Cole Johnson, M, pinned Garrett Blankinship, 2:33; 189: Jordan Reiner, M, pinned Tyler Robel, :32; 215: Kyle Larson, M, pinned Blaine Priest, 2:49; HWT: Wes McPherson, M, pinned Jesse Rhody, 4:50.
