White Pigeon ran away with a 51-23 win at home against Mendon Tuesday in a wrestling rivalry match that opened the St. Joseph Valley League portion of the schedule for both squads.
“We wrestled hard and aggressive,” said White Pigeon 135-pounder Jordan Lucas, who pinned Giovanni Gussa in 1:18 and moved to 22-6 on the year. “I’m happy with mine and our team’s performance.”
Lucas said the Chiefs got pretty fired up for the contest.
“We did; it was a conference match and we had to win this one … both a team win and individual.”
Luke Lambert won by void at 103, Rogelio Segundo (112) pulled out a pin over Grady Garlinger in 4:58 and Damien Damien Esarey won by default at 119 for White Pigeon. Braydon Steeb added a 13-second fall at 125 before the Hornets were able to stop the bleeding at 130, when Jonah Grimm earned a technical fall over Trevor Bucks, 20-3.
Lucas added to the Chiefs’ lead, Jaime Rangel pinned Ty Cool in the 140-pound bout and Jake Black kept the momentum rolling in White Pigeon’s favor with a pin in 4:27 over Dakota Roof.
Mendon’s Brandon Bray (152) pulled out a hard-fought 8-6 decision against Shaun Harmon and Danny Cleveland did the same at 160 with a 7-5 win over the Chiefs’ Hunter Rummler. The Hornets’ Devin Greer won by void at 171 and White Pigeon’s Jared Mroz picked up forfeit points at 189.
White Pigeon 215-pounder Devin Hoover escaped with an 8-7 decision against Cole Harrison and Mendon’s Josh Goodman won by forfeit at heavyweight.