The Trenton High School wrestling team was back on the mat Thursday night, drawing a split in Lathrop with the host Mules and Maysville Wolverines. Trenton fell to Lathrop 45-36, but bounced back with a 52-27 win over Maysville.
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Trenton faced possibly their toughest opponent of the season in Lathrop, which has put itself on the same level as Cameron, the only other team to hand Trenton a dual loss this season.
The Bulldogs got off to a good start against the Mules, leading 18-0 after a win by fall from Dakota Galvin at 170 and wins by forfeit from Jacob Spillman (182) and Tyler Carpenter (195). The Bulldogs were open at 220 and 106, however, and Layton Harkins lost by fall at 285 between those weights. Lathrop then took its first lead of the dual when Carlos Gonzalez lost by fall at 113. Brandon Dolan (120), Lane Beverlin (126) and Dalton Ellis (132) all lost by fall as well, giving Lathrop a commanding 42-18 lead.
Trenton began to battle back with a win by fall from Karson Hill at 138, a match that saw the two-time state champion score 13 takedowns. Mason Mounce (145) and Austin Busch (152) followed with wins by fall of their own. The stretch of seven losses by fall or forfeit proved too great for the Bulldogs to counter however. Clay Oneal lost the dual’s final and best match by a 7-6 regular decision in a match-up of the top two ranked 160-pound wrestlers in the state.
“Lathrop has several good kids and is probably a top-four team in our class,” Trenton Head Coach Bill Hill said. “We gave them a good dual, but just didn’t get the job done. We lost a couple of swing matches and gave up bonus points – extra team points for winning by major decision, tech fall or pin – that we couldn’t afford to give up against a good team.”
The Bulldogs bounced back with a big win over Maysville, defeating the Wolverines by 25 points. Trenton got off to a slow start, this time as Spillman (182) lost the dual’s first match by fall and Carpenter (195) lost by a 3-2 regular decision. Trenton was open at 220 and Maysville led 15-0. Trenton got on the board at 285, where Maysville was open. Harkins picked up the win by forfeit and Gonzalez scored a win by fall at 106. Trenton was open at 113, but the Bulldogs finally took the lead after Dolan’s win by fall at 120 and Beverlin’s win by forfeit at 126. Trenton led 24-21 at that point and Ellis (132) and Taylor Young (138) picked up wins by forfeit to push the lead to 36-21.
Hill wrestled up at 145 and took a 28-13 technical fall victory, scoring 14 more takedowns. Busch lost by fall at 152, but Oneal (160) scored a 18-3 tech fall win. Galvin (170) closed the dual with a win by fall that gave Trenton the win by a final score of 52-27.
“We looked better in the Maysville dual, but still made some mental and technique errors that cost us individual wins against district opponents. These duals help us see what we need to focus on in order to win the big matches.”
With the split, Trenton moved to 7-2 on the season. The Bulldog grapplers will be back on the mat Saturday as they host the annual Trenton Tournament. Action in the THS gym gets under way at 10 a.m.