Wrestling: DeKalb gets nine pins in victory over Morris

DeKALB – Missing two key wrestlers, the DeKalb wrestling team didn’t miss a beat Thursday in a 68-7 win over Morris.

The Barbs (6-0, 2-0 Northern Illinois Big 12 East) got pins in the first four matches and nine overall in the victory. They lost only two on the day en route to the dominant win, even without James Corralejo (160 pounds) and Izaiah Webb (138) in the lineup.

Jack Evans filled in at 138, picking up his first varsity win with a pin in 1:51. Morris Jones moved up from 182 to 195 and picked up his first varsity win after trailing most of the match. He got a second-period reverse that he quickly turned into a pin.

“I just couldn’t give up. I just had to keep trying,” Jones said. “I knew something good would happen if I kept going.”

DeKalb coach Mike Pater said he also was impressed not just by Evans and Jones, but by Cooper Williams at 182, wrestling up a class. He lost 20-7 to who Pater called a tough wrestler, Morris’ Cody Baldridge, but kept the Barbs from a forfeit.

“It was nice to see guys like Morris get his first varsity win,” Pater said. “We had some guys injured tonight and some lower level guys really contribute. So, overall, I think it was a good night.”

Although Webb was in a knee brace, Pater said he expects both him and Corralejo back soon.

“It’s wrestling, everyone gets bumps and bruises along the way,” Pater said. “You have to be able to plug those holes with your other guys on the team.”

Tyler Scarbrough opened the match with a pin for the Barbs at 106 pounds in 3:14, then Christian Komitas needed 2 seconds less for a pin at 113. Andrew Hatton and Brenden McGee followed with first-period pins for the Barbs, then Ulises Jacob got a 21-5 tech fall in the second period at 132.

After Evans’ pin at 138, Caleb Park got a pin of the night in only 1:09, Parker Stratton picked up a forfeit. Sam Sommer’s match against Merrick Hairapetian was the first to go into the third period, won by Sommer, 9-3. Morris followed with its first points at 170 with a win be Jeffery Johnson, 12-7 over Trace Davidson – who was down only one with 52.8 seconds left, but fell victim to a late takedown and nearfall.

Baldridge got his win, but the Barbs closed with three straight pins in the upper weights – Jones, Leif Williams (56 seconds at 220) and Ethan Engleson (55 seconds at 285).