By Ben Stroup
The Delaware Hayes wrestling team opened what it hopes will be a memorable season with a trio of wins it’ll remember for quite some time during Saturday’s Harrison Duals.
The Pacers beat Franklin County (Indiana) 51-27 in the second round before edging Glen Este 37-36 on criteria in Round 3. The fourth round was a battle — one Fairfield won 39-33 — before Hayes handled Harrison 34-33 in the third-place match.
While each win, two of the three of the come-from-behind variety, provided their own excitement and drama, nothing came close to the win over Glen Este.
“We won on the ninth criteria: most cumulative first points scored … we had 10, they had nine,” Hayes coach Josh Heffernan said. “Crazy! Glad I had my rule book with me. If not, a mistake would have been made and the official would have given Glen Este the win.”
It wasn’t the only close call the Pacers had, either. They finished in the top three despite losing 12 points to forfeits against Harrison.
Hayes’ Zach Williams (106) pinned Jacob Bernhardt to notch the first of his team’s seven wins in the third-place showdown. The others belonged to Jalill Barnes (132), who outlasted Ernesto Quintanilla 4-2; Greg Brusco (152), who pinned Josh Huff; Max Wright (170), who pinned Max Boyle; Carter Davidson (182), who beat Cameron Sauerwein 11-2; Chris Martinez (195), who handled Nolan Zeinner 7-1; and Lance Paul (285), who, with his team trailing 33-28 with just the heavyweight match to go, pinned Harrison’s Dylon Morgan to give the Pacers the one-point win.
Williams, James White IV (120), Barnes, Brusco, Martinez and Paul picked up wins in the loss to Fairfield.
Williams, Brusco, Ian Mayberry (152), Zane Hypes (160), Wright, Martinez and Paul won against Glen Este — a match the Pacers trailed 27-6 before storming from behind to secure the win — and Williams, White IV, Brusco, Mayberry, Wright, Davidson, Martinez, Grant Conahan (220) and Paul secured wins against Franklin County.
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Follow Ben Stroup on Twitter @delgazette_ben.
