FORESTVILLE — Middletown High School”s wrestling squad came in third during the Last Chance Duals on Saturday at El Molino High School in Forestville.
“The kids wrestled pretty well for the most part and it was a good time,” Middletown coach Troy Brierly said.
Middletown sandwiched a 52-18 win over Piner High School of Santa Rosa and a 51-19 victory over Santa Rosa High School around a 39-33 loss to Redwood High School.
In the win against Piner, Middletown highlights included victories by technical fall by Ryan Fontenot at 130 pounds and Jarrod Rudy at 135 pounds. David King also upset David Allen with a first-round pin at 119 pounds.
Against Redwood, Middletown”s Brandon Earl won by technical fall at 103 pounds and Tyler Hamilton pinned his opponent with 13 seconds remaining in the 145-pound match.
“In my view, it was the best match I”ve seen him have in a month or so,” Brierly said of Hamilton”s victory.
In another Middle-town win, Paul Rogers outlasted his opponent for a 20-18 decision at 171 pounds.
“Our youth showed in this one,” Brierly said of the close loss to Redwood. “We were competitive, but they were a tiny bit more experienced than us.”
In the final dual against Santa Rosa High, Terry Brierly pinned his opponent 11 seconds into the second period at 140 pounds, Dylan Reynolds won by third-round pin at 160 pounds, and Earl took a 5-4 decision at 103 pounds.
“The kids were pumped up for this one and they wrestled extremely well,” Brierly said. “They seem to enjoy beating a bigger school.”
Three Middletown wrestlers won all three of their matches — Rudy at 135 pounds, Nolan Tkachenko at 125 pounds, and Taylor Hoefer at 152 pounds.
“Just about everyone wrestled as hard as they could all day,” Brierly said. “This group keeps getting better every week and I”m pretty proud of that growth. They are working hard.”
