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Carthage wins battle of second ranked
By Joe Warren
Nevada Daily Mail
NEVADA, Mo. -- It was second-ranked Carthage taking control of the Southwest Conference race as they toppled second-ranked Nevada in a wrestling dual at Wynn Gymnasium Thursday, 38-27.
Class 3 Carthage (6-0 in duals overall, 2-0 in the Southwest Conference) proved too strong for Class 2 Nevada (5-1, 2-1), particularly in the light and middle weights where they did all their damage.
The Carthage Tigers got three pins and two technical falls to give them just enough points to separate from the Nevada Tigers.
Nevada had three pins of their own, but lost eight of the 14 individual matches, allowing the visitors to get the team victory.
"We had it close," Nevada head coach Kevin Huck said. "Just like all our other duals, coming down to the last match."
Nevada had a slim chance going into the final match of the night, but they needed sophomore Tyler Werner to pin Carthage senior Jeremy Bland at 160 pounds to get the win. Bland, the second-ranked individual at 160 in Class 3, was too much for Werner, earning a pin to give Carthage the victory.
Huck said the loss was nothing to be ashamed of, because he knew Nevada gave a consistent effort throughout.
"I would be disappointed if I thought our kids went out and gave up, and that didn't happen once," Huck said. "Sure it hurts to lose, I would be mad if it didn't hurt them a little, but I would be hurt more if they let it effect the rest of their season."
The loss was the first of the season for Nevada, but doesn't completely knock them out of the conference race. If the Tigers can beat Webb City Tuesday, they could possibly share the conference title if either Neosho or McDonald County were to upset Carthage.
Huck said the conference title would be nice, but that the Tigers have more important goals in mind.
"Conference is nice to win, but we still have an opportunity to go into the district tournament and do very well," he said. "Throughout the season is training for districts and state."
Nevada won't have to worry about Carthage or any of the Southwest Conference opponents at districts, since every other team in the conference is a Class 3 school.
Thursday's match proved to be exciting throughout, with Nevada controlling the heavy weights to start out, building a lead against Carthage.
Lawrence Shouse started the match for Nevada, wrestling Carthage's Caleb Sanders at 171 pounds. Sanders, a senior, proved to be too quick for Shouse, a freshman, earning a pin with 32 seconds left in the second period.
Down 6-0, Nevada made its move.
Spenser Daniels wrestled Austen Heidlage at 189 pounds, earning a pin with 0:00.1 on the clock in the opening period to tie the team score at six.
At 215 pounds, Ryan Herda went up against Charly Gaudsmith in one of the closest matches of the night. Herda led 4-2 going into the final period, then held on for a 4-3 victory to put Nevada up 9-6.
Jerrod Alexander battled the much larger Zach Mason in the heavyweight match, jumping out to a 6-2 lead early in the third period then holding on for a 6-5 decision to allow Nevada to grab a 12-6 lead.
The most exciting match of the night came at 103 pounds as Dominic Habjan took on Cory Heinz. Habjan fell behind early, trailing 4-0 early in the second period.
An escape made the score 4-1 in favor of Heinz going into the the third.
Habjan went to work, registering a takedown and getting two key points from a near pin to take a 5-4 lead.
Habjan was reversed with 30 seconds left in the match and trailed 6-5, but a penalty was called on Heinz for clasping his hands right before time expired, tying the score at six and forcing sudden death overtime.
With 17 seconds left in the 1-minute overtime period Habjan earned a takedown to get the win, 8-6.
With Nevada up 15-6, Carthage began their run.
Josh Mason beat Mason Heard at 112 pounds, 15-9, to close the lead to six.
At 119 pounds, Clint Spencer worked on Drew Shepherd at 119 pounds, earning a major decision with a 14-2 win. That made it 15-13 in the team competition.
At 125 pounds, Trey Miller wrestled Justin Sanderson. Sanderson, the fourth ranked wrestler in Class 3, was unable to pin Miller but he did earn a technical fall (22-7) with 30 seconds left in the third period.
The win by Sanderson gave Carthage an 18-15 lead and they didn't trail again.
Carthage senior Aaron Groom pinned Todd Brier at 130 pounds, finally getting Brier with 28 seconds left in the final period. Groom, a returning state qualifier who is ranked second, gave Carthage a 24-15 lead.
At 135, Nick Nelson fought hard against Carthage's Brady Gerstner, but Gerstner was able to work an 18-3 technical fall with 48 seconds left in the third. Gerstner is also ranked second in the state. The win gave Carthage a 29-15 lead with four matches to go.
Nevada made one last-ditch effort to get back into the match.
Josh Palmer pinned Austin Armer at 140 pounds, needing only 1:29 to earn the fall. That closed the gap to 29-21.
Matt Kennedy battled Yoni Herrera at 145 pounds, getting edged 7-6, allowing Carthage to make it a 32-21 team score.
At 152, Cole Bond was able to pin Chad Mathews midway through the third period to bring Nevada within five, 32-27.
That set up the final match of the night, with Bland securing Carthage's victory.
Notes: The match featured 13 wrestlers ranked in the top 10 of their weight classes by Missouriwrestling.com. Carthage has seven ranked in Class 3, while Nevada has six ranked in Class 2. ... Mason Heard (fourth), Drew Shepherd (ninth), Cole Bond (fourth), Spenser Daniels (third), Ryan Herda (third) and Jerrod Alexander (fourth) are Nevada's ranked wrestlers. ... Despite all the ranked grapplers, there were only two individual matches featuring ranked opponents Thursday. Daniels pinned Austen Heidlage (third in Class 3) at 189, while Josh Mason (fifth) beat Heard 15-9 at 112.