Seymour senior Brenden Bridgewater puts Columbus North’s Bryce Littrell in a cradle during their 220-pound match Tuesday night. Bridgewater won 7-6.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Seymour’s Charlie Bruce tries to escape from Columbus North’s Nolan Riley during their 106-pound match Tuesday night. Bruce got an escape and won the match 14-3.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Seymour senior Sam Chandler tries to control Columbus North’s Josiah Green during their 152-pound match Tuesday night. Neither wrestler scored a point in the first period but Green won the match in the second period.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Seymour wrestlers came up with one regular decision, two major decisions, and two forfeits, but it wasn’t enough as Columbus North left the Barney Scott Gymnasium Tuesday night with a 53-23 win.
Seymour’s Charlie Bruce trailed North’s Nolan Riley 3-2 in the second period when he gained a reversal and near fall late in the second period, then scored eight points in the third period for a 14-2 major decision.
“He scored a solid major for us,” Owls coach Dan Rasey said. “Charlie is a freshman that is getting his feet wet up here. It’s an adjustment when you come from middle school and you’ve been the top dog, then you come up to high school and it’s a different style. You’re wrestling tougher kids. He is slowly but surely getting those adjustments.”
Seymour’s Lucas Zike at 113 and Dane Botkin at 120 won forfeits.
Rasey said North is extremely tough in the middle weights, and the Bull Dogs won the next eight matches, seven by pin, to take complete control of the match.
“They have really big hammers from 132 through 145. Those guys are all state ranked. They are all definitely going to semi-state, and a couple maybe to state,” Rasey said. “We kind of went into it trying to see how many points we could save. We lost a few swing matches that we didn’t think we were going to.”
Seymour’s Liam Chandler came up with two escapes in the second period and had a reversal in the third period, but couldn’t hold off Bryce Hawkins and was pinned in 5:57 at 126.
Owls Chase Rogers at 132, Jonathan Scott at 138, Nic Frady at 145, and Sam Chandler at 152 lost by pin.
Briley Compton was unable to score any points against Liam Phillips at 160 and lost a technical fall.
After Mason Nugent at 170 and Eduardo Bustos at 182 lost pins, Owls Logan Cunningham at 195 and Brenden Bridgewater at 220 won decisions.
Cunningham dominated Keyshawn Osborne in all three periods for a 14-5 decision, and Bridgewater used a reversal early in the third period to gain a 7-6 decision over Bryce Luttrell.
North won the heavyweight match by forfeit.
Racey said, “We bumped Logan up a weight. We thought we could get 182 and 195. It didn’t work out that way. Logan is our starting 182 pounder, a tough freshman. He wrestled a really solid match.”
“Brendan did enough to win a major and get us another bonus point. Slowly but surely we’re getting an idea of what it takes up here,” Rasey said.
Bridgewater said, “I was just trying to get free. I wasn’t trying to pin him and get six. I didn’t think it was possible until I got him in that cradle (in the second period). Then I thought, ‘I can win this.’”
Bridgewater got a takedown in the first period, and he said he felt like he wrestled well in the first period.
“I felt pretty good,” he said. “About halfway through the second period I started feeling it, though. I was getting a little tired. I’m doing pretty well this season. I think my biggest strength is probably on top. I’m really strong, even when I’m down.”
Bridgewater, who has been wrestling varsity since his freshman year said, “I like everything about wrestling. I just like going out there and winning. We condition a lot.”
He said his favorite pinning moves are either the cradle or power half.
AnnMarie Shuler was the only Seymour JV to win as Jonathan Venegas, Nolan Keyes, Drew Banister, Alex Martinez and Brandon Mora lost their matches.
The Owls will next wrestle at Jennings County on Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m.