EVANSVILLE - The Evansville Holiday Wrestling Tournament wouldn't have made a very good movie.
The climax - usually reserved for the end of the film - came right in the middle of the four-team round-robin event. In the second round, Darlington came from behind to defeat host Evansville-Albany 41-36. That after the Redbirds staved off a Brodhead-Juda rally to win 44-27 in the first round.
In the final round, the Redbirds put an emphatic stamp on a 3-0 showing as a team with a 62-18 victory over a short-handed Cambridge team. Meanwhile, on Mat No. 1, the Cardinals overcame a 27-11 deficit through seven bouts to beat their Rock Valley Conference rival, Evansville-Albany, 35-30.
"I told our guys, 'That was supposed to be the championship match over there,'" Darlington coach Tom Mathias said. "I don't think they planned on us getting to that point."
Brodhead-Juda finished 2-1 as a team, while Evansville-Albany went 1-2 and Cambridge finished 0-3.
Brandon Heins won one of six individual titles for Darlington, but his quest for a 215-pound title was nearly derailed in the first match of the event. He built a 7-3 lead on Brodhead-Juda's Cody Spooner with just 10 seconds left in the second period. But he began the third period on the bottom, where Spooner quickly seized control early in the final 2-minute frame. For nearly an entire minute, Spooner drove his hips into Heins' chest, but couldn't squeeze out a pin.
"I was looking down and saying, 'Ah come on, it's right there,' and I was bouncing too trying to get it," Spooner said, with a laugh. "He's tough, though. I just fought off my back, put my elbow underneath me and eventually rolled through."
Devin Malott, Matt McDaniel, Bruce King, Tanner Andrews and Mark Brugger also took titles for Darlington.
Brugger (285) and Bo Brunkow (112) sandwiched pins around a technical fall by Jordan Wang before a pin by the Cardinals' Aaron Pratt of Patrick Roche in the 119 class ended a 20-0 run.
"18 days off, that's a while," Brodhead senior Devin Seitz said of the Brodhead-Juda varsity holiday break. "We were all rusty. We just had to get a little bit of rust off in the first few matches."
Mitchell Wiesenberg battled in a 4-0 loss to the three-time state qualifier Malott at 125 before Brady McDaniel picked up a third-period pin of Ben Boozier for Darlington. Cale Zettle settled for an 8-1 win over Scott McDaniel after a pair of near falls. The teams traded pins as Matt McDaniel squeezed Joe Campbell with just 26 seconds left before Brodhead-Juda freshman Hunter Colden pinned Wade Larson in just 72 seconds.
Then Colden's mentor, Seitz, pinned Coty Lange midway through the second round to pull the Cardinals closer at 35-21.
But after Casey Flannery pinned Darlington's Sean Cronin with 10 seconds left in their 160-pound match, Bruce King showed his senior grit by squashing the Cardinals' momentum with a pin of sophomore Ethan Voights.
Voights built a 4-0 lead midway through the second period before King pulled a reversal, establishing control just before the grapplers left the circle. Thirty seconds later, he hit his small window and pinned Voights with 14 seconds left to take a 41-27 team points lead, which clinched the match.
"After the toss, I felt him weaken up a little bit," King said. "I knew he was hurting, so I just unloaded and kept going harder and harder."
Darlington trailed 36-27 to Evansville in the second round before King again generated immense momentum with a reversal and pin of Ryan Reisem along the edge of the circle midway through the second period.
"Bruce started out a little slow in every match, but then he cranked it up in the second and third period," Mathias said.
Tanner Andrews took an 11-2 major decision over Alex Yoerger to give Darlington a 37-36 lead. Then Heins sealed the 41-36 victory with an 11-2 major decision over Ben Reed, despite Reed digging his thumbs into Heins' left clavicle and penchant for headbutting.
"It all comes down to mental strength," Heins said. "You've gotta rise above it, put it behind you and just be the better wrestler."
The Blue Devils hemorrhaged a similar lead in the de facto second-place match against Brodhead-Juda. They led 27-11 before Colden battled back from down 6-1 to beat Ryan Weaver.
"We needed that. That kid is an amazing wrestler as a freshman," Seitz said. "Maybe not as a freshman, but he'll be a state qualifier - I know it'll happen. Hunter is that kind of kid - he never stops, he always works hard, does nothing bad."
With the Cards down 30-23 and Dylan Severson waiting to claim a forfeit in his heavyweight division, coach Tim Colden hollered to Spooner, "All we need is a win."
Spooner did his coach one better, pinning Reed in just 18 seconds.
"I was a little scared, because he was a little smaller and quicker, so I didn't know if he would take me three periods," Spooner said. "I didn't want to, that first one killed me."
Spooner had gone nearly a month without a match, having missed the Edgerton Duals because of his ACT test. The Redbirds won their title by winning more duals than they've competed in - two - all season. Mathias hopes their championship swagger carries over when they face three-time defending state champion Mineral Point Friday, Jan. 8.
"We'll go in there with a little momentum and give them at the very least a hell of a battle," Mathias said.
The climax - usually reserved for the end of the film - came right in the middle of the four-team round-robin event. In the second round, Darlington came from behind to defeat host Evansville-Albany 41-36. That after the Redbirds staved off a Brodhead-Juda rally to win 44-27 in the first round.
In the final round, the Redbirds put an emphatic stamp on a 3-0 showing as a team with a 62-18 victory over a short-handed Cambridge team. Meanwhile, on Mat No. 1, the Cardinals overcame a 27-11 deficit through seven bouts to beat their Rock Valley Conference rival, Evansville-Albany, 35-30.
"I told our guys, 'That was supposed to be the championship match over there,'" Darlington coach Tom Mathias said. "I don't think they planned on us getting to that point."
Brodhead-Juda finished 2-1 as a team, while Evansville-Albany went 1-2 and Cambridge finished 0-3.
Brandon Heins won one of six individual titles for Darlington, but his quest for a 215-pound title was nearly derailed in the first match of the event. He built a 7-3 lead on Brodhead-Juda's Cody Spooner with just 10 seconds left in the second period. But he began the third period on the bottom, where Spooner quickly seized control early in the final 2-minute frame. For nearly an entire minute, Spooner drove his hips into Heins' chest, but couldn't squeeze out a pin.
"I was looking down and saying, 'Ah come on, it's right there,' and I was bouncing too trying to get it," Spooner said, with a laugh. "He's tough, though. I just fought off my back, put my elbow underneath me and eventually rolled through."
Devin Malott, Matt McDaniel, Bruce King, Tanner Andrews and Mark Brugger also took titles for Darlington.
Brugger (285) and Bo Brunkow (112) sandwiched pins around a technical fall by Jordan Wang before a pin by the Cardinals' Aaron Pratt of Patrick Roche in the 119 class ended a 20-0 run.
"18 days off, that's a while," Brodhead senior Devin Seitz said of the Brodhead-Juda varsity holiday break. "We were all rusty. We just had to get a little bit of rust off in the first few matches."
Mitchell Wiesenberg battled in a 4-0 loss to the three-time state qualifier Malott at 125 before Brady McDaniel picked up a third-period pin of Ben Boozier for Darlington. Cale Zettle settled for an 8-1 win over Scott McDaniel after a pair of near falls. The teams traded pins as Matt McDaniel squeezed Joe Campbell with just 26 seconds left before Brodhead-Juda freshman Hunter Colden pinned Wade Larson in just 72 seconds.
Then Colden's mentor, Seitz, pinned Coty Lange midway through the second round to pull the Cardinals closer at 35-21.
But after Casey Flannery pinned Darlington's Sean Cronin with 10 seconds left in their 160-pound match, Bruce King showed his senior grit by squashing the Cardinals' momentum with a pin of sophomore Ethan Voights.
Voights built a 4-0 lead midway through the second period before King pulled a reversal, establishing control just before the grapplers left the circle. Thirty seconds later, he hit his small window and pinned Voights with 14 seconds left to take a 41-27 team points lead, which clinched the match.
"After the toss, I felt him weaken up a little bit," King said. "I knew he was hurting, so I just unloaded and kept going harder and harder."
Darlington trailed 36-27 to Evansville in the second round before King again generated immense momentum with a reversal and pin of Ryan Reisem along the edge of the circle midway through the second period.
"Bruce started out a little slow in every match, but then he cranked it up in the second and third period," Mathias said.
Tanner Andrews took an 11-2 major decision over Alex Yoerger to give Darlington a 37-36 lead. Then Heins sealed the 41-36 victory with an 11-2 major decision over Ben Reed, despite Reed digging his thumbs into Heins' left clavicle and penchant for headbutting.
"It all comes down to mental strength," Heins said. "You've gotta rise above it, put it behind you and just be the better wrestler."
The Blue Devils hemorrhaged a similar lead in the de facto second-place match against Brodhead-Juda. They led 27-11 before Colden battled back from down 6-1 to beat Ryan Weaver.
"We needed that. That kid is an amazing wrestler as a freshman," Seitz said. "Maybe not as a freshman, but he'll be a state qualifier - I know it'll happen. Hunter is that kind of kid - he never stops, he always works hard, does nothing bad."
With the Cards down 30-23 and Dylan Severson waiting to claim a forfeit in his heavyweight division, coach Tim Colden hollered to Spooner, "All we need is a win."
Spooner did his coach one better, pinning Reed in just 18 seconds.
"I was a little scared, because he was a little smaller and quicker, so I didn't know if he would take me three periods," Spooner said. "I didn't want to, that first one killed me."
Spooner had gone nearly a month without a match, having missed the Edgerton Duals because of his ACT test. The Redbirds won their title by winning more duals than they've competed in - two - all season. Mathias hopes their championship swagger carries over when they face three-time defending state champion Mineral Point Friday, Jan. 8.
"We'll go in there with a little momentum and give them at the very least a hell of a battle," Mathias said.
