Mark Trump knew the last home match of his career would be a short one. He had the confidence in himself, the sixth-ranked 182-pounder in the state, to quickly dispatch an unranked wrestler from Higginsville.
Trump wanted a quick finish.
Trump took his shot shortly after the whistle, securing both of his foe’s legs and dumping him over his shoulders. Less than a minute into the match, Trump had a pinfall victory.
“I knew before the match it was going to be quick, I wanted to make it quick,” Trump said. “I saw that shot, took it and I knew what was going to happen from there. I just tried to focus and get it done.”
The win from Trump, coming in the second match of a dual that opened at 170, got Trenton on the board and was the first of what would be six pins on the night for the Bulldogs. Each one was big in a dual Trenton would take by just a 36-33 margin over visiting Higginsville.
“Mark has just been a huge part of this program for the last four years,” Trenton coach Charlie Bacon said. “I can remember seeing him as a freshmen and thinking, ‘you know, this kid has got a lot of potential.’ Just watching him evolve as a wrestler and a young man over the years, it’s been great. He is one of the best kids you could ask for as a kid to coach and I was just so happy that he was able to make that memory his last memory of being on his home mat his senior year.”
While Trump’s win started the night for Trenton, it was a pair of third-period pins that pushed Trenton to the victory.
The Bulldogs entered the night without Brice Gibler at 132 and Noah Lewis at 160, two staples of the Bulldog lineup. Higginsville collected 12 points off Trenton’s open weights at 132 and 285 and, despite a game effort in Lewis’ spot from Timothy Kempton, the Huskers added six more with a pinfall victory at 160.
Trenton led 24-21 entering the final four weight classes. With 145 open and Kempton in Lewis’ spot at 160, Trenton was looking at needing must-have pins from Coleman Griffin at 138 and Kaden Owen at 152.
Griffin and Owen delivered.
“Those two kids came through in a huge way,” Bacon said. “They knew we were without Brice Gibler (132) and Noah Lewis (160) and we knew that was going to be a huge deficit to overcome.”
Both needed all three periods to get it done, but both walked off the mat with wins by fall. Griffin went back-and-forth with his opponent. In the first period alone, Griffin was close to getting a pin on three occasions and was nearly pinned himself twice. Despite the back-and-forth, Griffin led 3-2 after the first period and 5-3 entering the third. It was in the final period that Griffin got a takedown he was able to turn into a pin to keep Trenton’s hopes alive in the dual.
Owen almost ran out of time.
Following a suplex takedown in the first period, Owen held a 4-1 advantage. He was up 7-2 entering the third period. A major decision or pin would clinch the dual for the Bulldogs. Late in the third period it became obvious a major decision was out of the question. But Owen turned his opponent to his back with under 10 seconds left and, with under three seconds showing on the clock, the referee’s hand hit the mat to signal a pin for Owen.
“I’ll tell you what, when push came to shove, Coleman went out and just wrestled a heck of a match,” Bacon said. “He avoided getting thrown in a headlock, he was patient and he came out with a pin.
“That may be the best match that I have seen Kaden Owen wrestle. He was exactly the same (as Griffin). Sometimes he has a tendency to rush things and he settled in, he was patient and it took us until the third period, but he finally got the job done. Man, I am so proud of those two guys.”
Other wrestlers getting pins for Trenton on the night were Caleb Johnson (220), Hunter McAtee (106) and Gavin Chambers (113).
Johnson pinned his opponent in the first period at 220. He allowed his opponent to slide by him before taking him down from behind and quickly turning him for the pin.
McAtee, the fourth-ranked 106 pounder in the state, racked up five takedowns in the first period, cutting his foe loose after the first four to present more takedown opportunities. He opened the second period on the bottom, scored a reversal and pinned his opponent quickly after that.
Chambers, like Owen and Griffin, didn’t get his pin until the third period. But he was in control for the whole match and led 10-0 at the time of the pin.
“I told (the team) before we all came out that we couldn’t mess around tonight, we had to have pins,” Bacon said. “A major decision wasn’t going to cut it, a tech fall wasn’t going to cut it. We had to have pins. We got some pins early coming out of the chutes and I think that was good for our momentum.”
Sam Gibson took a loss at 170 in the first match of the night, losing by a 2-1 decision. He led 1-0 through two periods, but was taken down in the third. Despite the loss, avoiding a pin was a major reason Trenton won the dual in the end.
Other Bulldogs in action included Allen Airey (195) and Caylub Tyler (120), both of whom lost by fall.
With the dual win, Trenton improved to 13-5 in head-to-head action this season.
TRENTON GIRLS
Trenton’s girls dropped their dual with Higginsville 24-12. Only one match was wrestled on the mat, where senior Libby Fewins (166) picked up a win by fall at the very end of the first period.
“I was so happy that Libby got a match for Senior Night,” Bacon said. “I am even happier that she got a pin in front of the home crowd for the last time.”
Allyson Yoder picked up a win by forfeit at 130 and Higginsville got wins by forfeit at 120, 142, 152 and 187.
The Trenton girls will be at the District 4 Tournament in Kearney tonight and Saturday. Action on the mat begins at 5 o’clock tonight and will resume on Saturday at 10 a.m.