Lions claim 45-33 victory at Baldwin wrestling dual

Lawrence High senior Santino Gee attempts to pin down Baldwin sophomore Dylan Voigts during a dual at Baldwin Junior High on Wednesday.

Baldwin City ? Most young teams may have not been able to respond the way that the Lawrence High wrestling team did.

In Wednesday’s dual against Baldwin High at Baldwin Junior High, Lawrence was able to overcome a slow start, stringing five consecutive match victories to ultimately seal the 45-33 victory. After losing four of the first six matches, the Lions claimed all five wins between the 145-pound weight class and the 182-pound weight class.

“We did pretty well but we still have a long way to go,” LHS coach Pat Naughton said. “There is a lot of stuff that we need to be working on.”

Lawrence High freshman Julien Cassella pins down Lane Anderson of Baldwin during the 113-pound match in a dual at Baldwin Junior High on Wednesday.

Junior Jay Cheatham (145 pounds), senior Cade Burghart (152), sophomore Stanley Holder (160), Santino Gee (170), and Tucker Wilson (182) all notched wins in their respective matches to pave the way for the team’s comeback effort. All of them, besides Holder, won by pinfall.

“(160) was a weight that we had a lot of questions at,” Naughton said. “Stanley stepped up and said ‘I’d love to step in there.’ He comes in and does a great job even though it doesn’t look like much because he won 2-0.”

In addition, freshman Julien Cassella (113), sophomore Marcus Cassella (126), and junior Billy Phiavilayvong (220, forfeit) all won their weight classes for LHS as well.

But what made the team’s first dual victory of the year even more impressive was the timing of it.

The Lions have had an unfavorable schedule since returning from their winter break, which has tested some of their younger wrestlers. Lawrence’s dual against Baldwin marked the team’s third event in seven days.

And it doesn’t get any easier. LHS will travel to the Newton Invitational this weekend to take on some of the top wrestlers in the state. The team’s recent stretch may just be the very thing to give them the edge against some of the best in the state this weekend.

“We look at it as more practice for some of these younger guys,” Naughton said. “Getting them in the spotlight and getting them in matches and out of the room, which is nice. For our older guys, it’s about dialing it in and getting focused for the Newton tournament.”

Though playing against the best competition can often bring out the best, it is certainly a tall task for a young wrestling team.

It can even be challenging for some of the veteran wrestlers such as Wilson. The senior was able to pin his opponent in the first period Wednesday. However, he will more than likely be put to the test on the mat come this weekend, as the 182-pound weight class features four of the top six wrestlers in the state in 6A and two of the top six in 5A.

“My bracket is pretty tough,” Wilson said. “It excites me because so far this season I haven’t had too much tough competition. But this tournament, pretty much everyone is really tough. So I will enjoy that.”

Pinning for Pink

Many of the Baldwin High wrestlers and fans wore pink for Wednesday’s dual as part of a “Pinning for Pink” night, which helped raise awareness for breast cancer. Sarah Harris, the wife of Baldwin coach, Kit Harris, just finished up a round of chemotherapy that began this past summer.

Harris decided to orchestrate the event as a sign of gratitude for the town’s support over the last several months. They sold pink shirts as well as other items, donating all funds that were raised to Lawrence Memorial Hospital Endowment to benefit LMH Oncology needs.

“It’s changed out family and a lot of people have been generous,” Harris said. “I just felt bad being on the receiving end of all these people trying to help her get better without doing something to give back. So this was my first thought in July when we were first going though this. I said ‘I’m going to do something to give back.'”

Sarah Harris watched as the Bulldogs recorded six wins, including four of the first six matches. Sophomore Benton Flory (106, forfeit), junior Jakob Johanning (120, forfeit), junior TJ Hopper (132), senior Levi Green (138), senior Sheldon Silk (195) and senior Harley Stewart (285) all snatched wins for BHS.

Green edged Lawrence’s Ja’Melle Dye, 7-6, in the closest match of the evening. It was one of two decisions all night and the only match to go into overtime.

But Baldwin’s lead was short-lived as LHS rattled off five straight matches following Green’s overtime thriller.

“I’m proud of how my team wrestled,” Harris said. “I have a lot of young kids and we are a 4A school. The advantages of 6A are there. To compete with them was awesome and nothing to be ashamed of. I don’t have any complaints of how my team wrestled. They fought hard.”

Lawrence High 45, Baldwin 33

106 pounds: Benton Flory, BHS, won by forfeit.

113 pounds: Julien Cassella, LHS, pinned Lane Anderson, BHS.

120 pounds: Jakob Johanning, BHS, won by forfeit.

126 pounds: Marcus Cassella, LHS, pinned Will Harvey, BHS.

132 pounds: TJ Hooper BHS, pinned William Maas, LHS.

138 pounds: Levi Green, BHS, def. Ja’Melle Dye, LHS, 7-6.

145 pounds: Jay Cheatham, LHS, pinned Max Tuckfield, BHS.

152 pounds: Cade Burghart, LHS, pinned Tucker Nyberg, BHS.

160 pounds: Stanley Holder, LHS, def. Scot Harman, BHS, 2-0.

170 pounds: Santino Gee, LHS, pinned Dylan Voigts, BHS.

182 pounds: Tucker Wilson, LHS, pinned Cy Hockey, BHS.