By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
ATHENS — Athens won five of the seven contested weight classes, and sophomore Wyatt Clink clinched Athens' 46-30 win over Troy in the penultimate bout of the night here Thursday in NTL wrestling action.
"We were without Caleb (Nason) and another starter tonight, but the rest of the kids stepped up," said Athens coach Shawn Bradley.
"Wyatt (Clink) wrestled really well, he wrestled well the other night, too," noted Bradley. "Hayden (Mercer) stepped up and got a big win.
"And, being able to move Brendan (Cooke) up a weight class (from 160 to 172 pounds) was big for us, too," added Bradley.
Freshman Treyton Barrett set the tone for the Wildcats at 145 pounds with three quick takedowns, before turning Marcus Frisbie to his back for a fall at 1:42.
Troy's Carter Austin evened the match with a first-period pin in the 152-pound bout.
The Trojans' momentum was short-lived, however, as junior Hayden Mercer dumped Bridon Putnam to his back off the opening whistle and secured the fall in 16 seconds to put the Wildcats up 12-6.
Sophomore Brendan Cooke, wrestling up a weight class at 172 pounds, scored a pair of early takedowns on his way to a 12-4 major decision over Rylan Breidt to make it 16-6.
After a Troy forfeit at 189 to sophomore Connor Davidson extended the Wildcat lead to 22-6, Troy's Kael Millard scored a first-period fall at 215 to close the gap to 22-12.
The next five weight classes were forfeit with Troy picking up six points at 285, 107 and 114 to take a momentary 30-22 lead, before the Wildcats picked up six at 121 and 127 for a 34-30 lead heading into the final two weight classes.
At 133 pounds, Clink was the aggressor in his match-up, and ended with a pin of Troy's Keegan Kerr in 3:45 to lock up the Wildcat win, upping the lead to 40-30 with one bout remaining.
Junior Karson Sipley put the finishing touched on the Wildcat win with a 39-second pin of Logunn Heasley.
The Wildcats improve to 5-0 on the season.
"Duals allow us to get a couple more extra matches," said Bradley. "It is what it is with duals.
"The kids wrestled well tonight," noted Bradley. "We have some tougher ones coming, but tonight they wrestled well.
"Hopefully, the kids are peaking at the right time for the postseason," he added.
Athens will be in action this weekend at the Southern Tier Memorial at the LeCom Center in Elmira.
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IN PHOTO 1: Athens freshman Treyton Barrett. IN TOP PHOTO: Athens junior Hayden Mercer. ... PHOTOS BY MATT PATTON.
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ATHENS 46, TROY 30
145: Treyton Barrett (A) by fall over Marcus Frisbie (T), 1:42;
152: Carter Austin (T) by fall over Sean Peters (A), 1:55;
160: Hayden Mercer (A) by fall over Bridon Putnam (T), 0:16;
172: Brendan Cooke (A) major dec. Rylan Breidt (T), 12-4;
189: Connor Davidson (A) won by forfeit;
215: Kael Millard (T) by fall over Judah Nason (A), 1:05;
285: Reed Palmer (T) won by forfeit;
107: Garret Parks (T) won by forfeit;
114: Connor Dibble (T) won by forfeit;
121: William Vosburgh (A) won by forfeit;
127: Lucas Persun (A) won by forfeit;
133: Wyatt Clink (A) by fall over Keagan Kerr (T), 3:45;
139: Karson Sipley (A) by fall over Logunn Heasley (T), 0:39.
