Early lead helps Raiders defeat Norse in wrestling dual
Arcadia’s Gery Lopez wrapped up Broc Coburn during a wrestling dual against Whitehall last Tuesday. Coburn pinned Lopez in two minutes, but Arcadia won the meet 48-27. (Times photograph by Benjamin Pierce)
Devin Hutsell of Whitehall (right) worked to flip Arcadia’s Nicolas Esteban during the 165-pound match in a dual wrestling meet last Tuesday at Arcadia High School. Hutsell won the match in a 17-13 decision, but Arcadia won the meet 48-27. (Times photograph by Benjamin Pierce)
Four straight wins for the Arcadia High School wrestling team set the tone in the Raiders’ dual meet against Whitehall last Tuesday, and the early lead helped the hosts beat the visiting Norse.
Matthew Badillo earned the first win of the night at 138 pounds, beating Oriah Anderson of Whitehall in a 7-2 decision.
Arcadia’s Logan Conrad (144 pounds) and Adalberto Ortiz (157) followed up Badillo’s success, earning pins to keep the points coming for the hosts.
Coach Steve Schank said his wrestlers were helped by the early lead, and he thinks his team could surprise their opponents despite only having two seniors.
“We’ve got a young team and we want to start showing them what we can do,” Schank said after Tuesday’s win. “The main thing about wrestling is believing in yourself, and if we believe in ourselves we’re going to have a nice year.”
Whitehall fought back despite the early deficit — Devin Hutsell (165) got the Norse on the board with a win by decision in a back-and-forth match with Arcadia’s Nicolas Esteban.
Teammate Broc Coburn kept building on the momentum for Whitehall, as his pin in two minutes during the 175-pound match cut Arcadia’s lead to 21-9.
Arcadia held on to win by taking five of the final eight weight classes.
Raiders who pinned their opponents to clinch victories included David Aguilar (190), Keven Luna (285), Ony Zaragoza (106) and Landen Pehler (120). Arcadia also got an 8-7 win by decision from Ivan Aguilar, who earned the winning point in the dying seconds of the final period on Tuesday.
Whitehall won three of the final eight matches with wins coming from Lukas Paske at 215 pounds, Frank Juresh IV (113) and Cashton Kulig (132).
There was plenty of emotion and a large group of fans at the dual, Schank said, adding that the visitors pushed Arcadia.
“I think the main thing is I always tell my guys to try to win the position one point at a time. There was some big turnaround matches on both sides, and Whitehall did some good things. … I always remind them it’s one point at a time, win the position, eventually win the match,” Schank said.
Arcadia and Whitehall have a quick turnaround as both teams prepare for Whitehall’s home invitational this Friday.
In his first year running the high school program, Schank said the team has a lot to learn as a group, and matches such as Tuesday will push them to improve.
“We’re trying to build something, trying to get that Arcadia wrestling tradition back.”
