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By Jed Blackwell

 

Tuesday’s 190-pound match during Polk County’s wrestling dual meet with East Henderson was a thriller.

Polk’s Chester Wilson and East Henderson’s Jaxon Metcalf needed overtime to decide their battle.

It couldn’t have been any more different than the rest of the night.

Polk County dominated the matches, winning seven of the nine contests that were decided on the mat, and cruised to a 55-21 victory. Afterward, Wolverines coach Thomas Hensley said the match sent a message.

“I said two years ago that you’d better get your licks in on us, because it was going to be really tough,” Hensley said. “Well, it’s really tough now. You’d better bring the hammer, the nail, everything. It’s exciting around here. It’s a great day to be a Wolverine.”

It was sure tough for the Eagles. Most of the night, it wasn’t remotely close. Polk County built a 28-0 lead with a tech fall from Cole Huntley and Aiden Billings, pins from Liam Huntley and Amon Villarreal, and a forfeit win from Efrain Rivera at 120 pounds. 

East Henderson’s only wins of the night came on back-to-back tech falls at 138 pounds and 144 pounds, and cut the lead to 28-10, but any momentum for the Eagles was quickly gone with forfeits at 150 and 157, and first-period pins from Styler Blackwell at 165 and Zalen McCraw at 175 giving the Wolverines a 52-10 lead. 

“We try to preach bonus points,” Hensley said. “The two guys who won for them, those are their best guys. And we didn’t give up pins in either one of those, so we were excited. We just didn’t go to our backs.”

That left the match at 190, the only match of the night that ended in a regular decision. Even that wasn’t by the book, as it took an extra period.

Wilson took a quick 3-0 lead and maintained a 3-1 advantage after the second round, but Metcalf got an early reversal in the third for a 4-3 lead. Wilson hit a reversal of his own, but Metcalf turned it right back around to lead 6-5. Metcalf was penalized a point for an illegal move, tying the match, and Wilson preserved the tie to force the extra period. There, he hit a quick takedown and scored back points to take a 9-6 win. The match was so intense that Metcalf was penalized a team point after exchanging words with the official.

Firmly in control, Polk County forfeited at 221 and Heavyweight for the final margin. The win pushed their unbeaten streak to five.

“For what I think might be the first time ever, we’re 5-0 and the middle school is 5-0 at the same time,” Hensley said. “I think that’s the first time both programs have been undefeated heading into Thanksgiving break. It’s a special time around here. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s a really exciting time to be a Wolverine.”