VINCENT - High school wrestling is often a numbers game.
On Wednesday, however, host Warren High was outnumbered by Gallia Academy but was still able to come away with a 42-39 victory. The Warriors also defeated the Trimble Tomcats 42-18 in the tri-match.
"The Gallia match, that was a shocker," said Warren head coach Mike Pahl. "We gave away 30 points (by forfeit). We only lost two matches to them, so head to head we did pretty good."
Article Photos
JORDAN HOLLAND The Marietta Times
Warren’s Austin Antill (160 pounds) pins his man during a tri-wrestling meet in Vincent Wednesday night.
A forfeit victory by Levi Congleton and a pin by Cory Parsons staked the Warriors to an early lead, but Gallia quickly tied things up after two forfeit wins.
Later, Cody Dobbs notched a pin to put Warren up 24-18. Austin Klintworth then won by forfeit followed by a pin from Austin Miles to extend the lead to 36-18. Again, though, forfeits brought the Blue Devils back, bringing the match back to a tie at 36-36.
In a heavyweight bout, Brandon Pahl came away with a pin to put Warren on top 42-36.
"The heavyweight match could've went either way," said the Warrior coach. "Brandon Pahl got a big pin on his guy in the third period."
Pahl's heavyweight victory also set up the final match.
Down six, Gallia needed a pin to tie things up. Warren's Braden Hewitt had different plans, losing a 5-1 decision but avoiding a pin to preserve the Warren lead.
"Braden Hewitt finishing his match out and not getting pinned was huge," Pahl said. "If he would've gotten pinned, we would've been tied. By only giving up three points, it really helped us in the match."
Going into the match against Trimble with a ton of momentum, Warren got a big boost by taking a 24-6 lead right off the bat on forfeits. Congleton got a quick first period pin against Peyton Cruise to add to the lead, followed by pins from Parsons over Hayden Bolyard and Dobbs over Trey Ward to make it 42-6 Warren.
The Tomcats got the final two pins of the match, Kaleb Strock over Hewitt and John Vaido over Klintworth, to round out the scoring.
"With Trimble, we knew we were pretty well matched up against them," Pahl said.
The two victories gave Warren a great start to the season, making its record 2-0. Heading into the Burt Builders Invitational at Warren on Saturday, Pahl likes how his team looks.
"We did pretty well tonight," Pahl said. "It was a good team effort."
Gallia beat Trimble 48-30.
