"Reloaded" Eagles defeat Rams, Bulldogs - now 10-0 this season

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 4, 2015 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

You'd think that losing nine state qualifiers and more than two-thirds of your starting lineup to graduation would lead to a rebuilding year.

Not at Rosewood.

The Eagles have reloaded.

Non-conference victories over Franklinton (45-32) and conference rival Princeton (65-18) kept Rosewood unbeaten in 10 outings on the mat this season.

"I thought we wrestled to our potential against Franklinton tonight," RHS head coach Bill Edmundson said. "We knew they were going to be very tough, especially in the middle weights and we were extremely pleased with Seth Finney and Dylan Melgar."

Each match ended in a 3-0 outcome.

Finney fell to Jacob Coats at 152 pounds, while the 182-pound Melgar earned an escape point with 48 seconds left the third period against JC Fairchild. Melgar secured the match with a double-leg takedown.

Hunter Weeks claimed a defensive pin at 190 pounds when the Rams' Michael Rogers attempted a roll and his shoulder blades touched the mat. Teammate and newcomer Timothy Decatur-Luker bumped up to 113 pounds and pinned Franklinton's Daniel Mickshutz in 4 minutes, 56 seconds.

Decatur-Luker trailed 10-4 in points.

"He was able to get a reversal and started working some offensive moves," Edmundson said.

Rosewood emerged victorious in five of seven individual bouts against Princeton. Jordan Todd logged a technical fall (15-0) over Benjamin Bayles as time expired in the third period. Merritt Long, Noah Carden, defending 1-A state champ Kaleb Taylor and Chris Hill each pinned their respective opponent.

The Bulldogs' Luke Brush trailed 10-7 in points, but pinned the Eagles' Reid Amodeo in 4:52 at 120 pounds. Teammate Michael Daughtry pinned Joey Behrend in 1:31.

"Luke ... he did really well," PHS head coach Terry Braswell said. "He's had some tough matches already this year. To come and do like he did tonight, he's showing (improvement) and we look for good things out of him this year."

Princeton's Skylar Shields edged Franklinton's Michael Smith, 9-5, at 220 pounds. Heavyweight Rian Tew, Brush and Benjamin Bayles each claimed a forfeit in a 51-21 loss to the Rams.

"I was pleased with the overall effort of all of the guys," Braswell said. "It was a lot better as you saw that what we wrestled before (last week). They're getting the hang of it. They've got to be aggressive in this sport.

"It's coming along, slowly but surely."