Every point matters.
It took until the 215-pound match for the Hickman Kewpies to clinch their 40-39 dual win Thursday night against the Capital City Cavaliers in Central Missouri Activities Conference action at Capital City High School.
Hickman jumped ahead 18-0 to start the dual, but the Cavaliers got a quick pin from Demarkus Lyddon-Allen, who lifted Brady Penn off the mat and controlled him to his back for a fall in 16 seconds at 132 pounds.
The Kewpies extended their lead to 24-6 when Hayden Benter worked to a pin in 4:32 at 138 pounds, but Capital City refused to give up.
Bishop Boyd worked to a first-period pin against Taryn Nichols at 138, then Levi Casey had the match of the night at 144.
Mark Harrell built a 7-1 lead midway through the second period and looked to give Hickman a bigger lead, but Casey escaped control with 1:17 left and went into the third period down 7-2. Casey started in the down position and escaped with 1:39 remaining, but a Harrell takedown with 44 seconds left seemed to clinch the match.
Casey then reversed control and sent Harrell straight to his back for a pin as the clock ran out.
“Levi Casey really came through at the end there,” Capital City coach Mitch Werdehausen said. “He was losing, but he’s a kid who will wrestle all the way to the end no matter what match he’s in. That’s what he showed on the mat.”
Eli Jenkins followed Casey with a pin in 1:18 at 150 pounds to tie the dual at 24.
Capital City then took its first lead when Jacob Weaver used a clasping, a reversal and a three-point near fall to build a 6-2 decision, the first match to not end early.
Hickman retook the advantage when Luke Waldron worked to a second-period pin against Roberto Macias in 3:17 at 165, then the Cavaliers jumped back in front after Nathan Yoder took a forfeit at 175.
With the Cavaliers up 33-30, Hickman’s Cole Herrell used three takedowns, an escape, a pair of two-point near falls and a three-point near fall to build a 14-3 major decision against Matthew Weigand at 190. Weigand just avoided a technical fall at the end of the second period, then forced a reversal with seven seconds remaining to create the final margin.
“Matt Weigand didn’t win, but he wrestled a really good kid really tough,” Werdehausen said. “Props to him for how much effort he gave out on that mat.”
Hickman’s Drew Wooden worked to a pin against Aden Jackson at 215 pounds to clinch the win by extending the lead to 40-33 with only 285 left to wrestle.
Reyce Turner earned a win by fall against Wyatt Belcher-Key in 2:39 for Capital City to create the final score.
“We were one point short,” Werdehausen said. “I told the guys, if one more kid didn’t get pinned, we won that dual. They had sick kids, we had sick kids, we’ve been fighting sickness all week. … I’m proud of my kids and how hard they worked, they all gave a good fight.”
Ethan Wydra (106) and Brady Hale (113) lost by fall for Capital City and the Cavaliers were open at 120 to lead to Hickman’s initial lead.
Hickman’s girls beat Capital City 24-12 without a match wrestled.
Capital City’s junior varsity team won all eight matches it wrestled for a 54-12 win.
Capital City will return to the mats today in the Missouri Duals at Helias.
“Friday we wrestle Neosho and North Point, they’re both really good top schools in the state,” Werdehausen said. “That’s gonna be really good competition for our kids. I’ll look for what we did today. Just keep fighting, keep driving and maximum effort. … We’re in a dual tournament, everybody on the team matters, we can’t be getting pinned. That’s what I’ll be preaching all weekend.”