The Apalachee High School Mat Wildcats avenged an earlier season loss to Winder-Barrow High School by taking a 46-33 victory in the Battle of Barrow Friday night.
For AHS coach Jim Stoudenmire, it was another step for his team in becoming a contender this season. The Mat Wildcats have made steady improvement as the 2008-09 season has progressed.
“We wrestled well, even in the matches we didn’t win,” Stoudenmire said.
One of the top matches of the night was at 171 between Winder-Barrow’s Will Whisenant and Apalachee’s Matt Harmon. Whisenant emerged with an 8-7 win in a match that went back and forth.
“It was a match that was a lot of fun to watch,” Stoudenmire said.
The AHS coach praised his WBHS counterpart, Chad Horne, for hosting the event, which doubled as Senior Night for both schools.
“I think we performed pretty well,” Horne said of his Matt Bulldoggs. “Apalachee has some good wrestlers and I think we had a close match with them. My understanding is it wasn’t close last year so it seems that we are improving. I believe the kids have improved all year. Now we just need to concentrate on polishing our moves so they become automatic.”
Earning wins for AHS Friday were:
•Reaggan Perkins, 103, forfeit
•John Vang, 119 pin
•Austin Shephard, 125, win
•Zak Moore, 130, pin
•Aaron Segars, 135, pin
•Chris Hamrock, 189, pin
•Chris Newman, 215, forfeit
•Tony Hoard, 285, forfeit
WBHS wrestlers who earned wins during the county meet Friday were:
•Michael Nerroth, 112, pin
•Taylor Keinat, 140, pin
•Ryan Conner, 145, pin
•Zac Guiterez, 152, pin
•Chase Veal, 160, pin
•Will Whisenant, 171, win
The combined Apalachee Middle School wrestling team also recorded a 50-17 decision against Winder-Barrow.
