The AGWSR boys wrestling team secured their first dual win of the season as they hosted South Hardin-BCLUW and #23(2A)Union for a NICL triangular on Thursday. Union won 65-18 over AGWSR in the first dual, Union won 59-21 over South Hardin-BCLUW, and AGWSR won 54-24 over South Hardin-BCLUW in the final dual of the night, as aired on 99 The Wave.
In the first dual, Union won seven matches by Fall and four by forfeit. AGWSR got on the board with a win by Fall for Brady Abbas at 132 over Wesley Gaston of Union in 3:21 and two wins by forfeits for Clayton Van Loh at 215 and Gage Van Loh at 285.
In the second dual, Union won five matches by Fall, four by forfeit and one by technical fall. South Hardin-BCLUW answered with a major decision win (12-4) by Beau Towne at 150 over Cooper Davis of Union and a win by technical fall (16-0) by Zaden Eggers over Jayden Paine of Union. The Storm also scored on a pair of wins by forfeit for Sawyer Kane at 215 and Edwin Wanken at 285.
In the third dual, AGWSR won seven matches by Fall, including wins by Clayton Van Loh at 215 (2:31), Gage Van Loh at 285 (0:47), Sam Mausser at 113 (0:45), Wyatt Engelkes at 120 (5:26), Brady Abbas at 132 (0:22), Jariyah Bowles at 138 (1:35) and Kade Urban at 144 (1:37) for the Cougars. Garrett Bruner at 126 (1:33) and Beau Towne at 157 (0:26) both won by the fall for the Storm.
AGWSR Head Coach James Abbas reflects on each dual and the support in the stands.
“Union is tough, they have been notoriously tough. I was proud of my guys effort. I can’t judge success off wins and losses in that case, you got to judge the effort that they put in the mat,” says Abbas. “We wrestled a close duel with South Hardin-BCLUW last year. This one we knew could be definitely a close dual. We really wrestled well in the beginning. Maybe started a little flat against Union and this one the kids came out ready to go. It’s fun to see those stands filled. We have a great wrestling family here that supports wrestling. We’re very, very fortunate to have those fans and those families. I saw families out there that wrestled years ago and came out to support the team tonight, and that’s so fun to see.”
AGWSR was led by Brady Abbas who went 2-0 with two falls at 132. South Hardin-BCLUW was led by Beau Towne who went 2-0 at 157 with a major decision and fall.
AGWSR (1-8) and South Hardin-BCLUW (1-4) will both take part in Nashua-Plainfield tournament on Saturday.