The SoBoCo Eagles wrestling team knew that they had a chance to make history on Tuesday beyond simply competing in the first match in school history.

They did so by out-muscling Macon and winning the school’s first wrestling match by a 60-18 score.

Freshman, Blake Schmidt

Freshman, Blake Schmidt

“We were really happy with the big crowd,” said Eagles coach Trent Tracy. “I thought all of our guys – even the wrestlers who lost tonight, came out and competed really hard. We had some good athletes go out and wrestle really aggressively and that made a big difference.”
The Eagles earned 12 points from the Tigers from two forfeits, but Isaac Smith at 120 lbs was pinned late in the first period for a 12-6 Eagles lead.

But Blake Schmidt – the Eagle on the team with the most wrestling experience, quickly took his opponent down and began a series of pin holds which built up near fall points and a 15-1 lead before getting the pin with 9-seconds left in the first period.

“Blake wrestled like we knew he could,” Tracy said, “he will be a leader for us all year.”
Blaine Sapp and Ty Varvil followed Schmidt’s momentum with first period pins of their own for a 30-6 Eagles lead.

Bo Varvil at 152 lbs. wrestled one of the few complete matches of the evening and lost 9-7, but displayed more of what the Eagles wrestlers have learned in a short time with strong single-leg takedown and strong reversal off the bottom position.

After Lance Matheny collected a third Macon forfeit at 160, the Eagles got another two thunderbolts that brought the crowd to its feet.

Both Jackson Sartain and Cooper Mange collected first period pins – Sartains in a mere 8-seconds – by simply overwhelming their opponent with a mix of speed and muscle. Both took their opponents down directly to their back and getting the pin.

After Trent Garriott was pinned in 1:17, Tanner Smith at 220 lbs came back with a pin at the 1:42 mark and Dominic Lawrence was decisioned 8-3.

Freshman Connor Phillips at 106 lbs ended the match with a pin of his own with only 22 seconds left in the first period. Phillips executed a textbook double-leg takedown, rode his opponent with a half-nelson most of the period and tilted him towards the end of the period for the pin.

The Eagles will certainly step up in competition with a match on Thursday at Blair Oaks and a tournament on Saturday at Versailles. But on Tuesday night, history was made with the first match – and a big, big win.

By Bruce Wallace