Wrestling: Plano rallies in last match to top Morris

MORRIS — The Plano and Morris wrestling teams have both struggled at times this season, featuring only five seniors combined.

But the Reapers took their three upperclassmen while Morris brought its two and produced an Interstate 8 Conference mat masterpiece.

After Plano engineered a whopping 28-point lead, Morris stormed back with five consecutive pinfalls and 30 straight points to grab a two-point lead with one match to contest at 138 pounds.

There, Reaper sophomore Trevion Gilford bested Morris senior Cameron Skoff 5-0 to help his club register the final three points of the night to earn a 37-36 league victory Thursday on senior night at Morris.

“I had to fight down there and I knew it was up to me if we were going to stop their great rally,” Gilford said. “I’ve worked so hard this season and to see that work paying off tonight was an incredible feeling for me and most importantly for our team.”

The match provided a massive 11 victories by pinfall out of the 14 weight classes.

Plano (9-8, 2-4 I8) scored five while Morris (4-14, 1-4 I8) boasted six as the Reapers survived the late surge by the home squad.

“The atmosphere here was incredible tonight for a conference match we were able to somehow survive on the road against a very tough Morris team,” Plano coach Dwayne Love said. “Tre (Gilford) did what he needed to do in the final match and we had only three seniors in our lineup and I know they only had two. But I’m so pleased to come away with such an exciting win on the road.”

Morris junior and state-rated Tyler Semlar (20-5) got the proceedings started at 145 pounds when he pinned Plano sophomore Antione Gilford at 58 seconds of the first period to give Morris an early 6-0 advantage.

“I knew I had to get us off strong because I thought the bulk of our points would come later in the match,” Smelar said. “I tried to set the tone and then waited to see what could happen for us.”

The Reapers caught fire, however, getting a pin from sophomore Caidan Ronning (152) and a major decision from senior Gio Diaz (160).

Sophomore Luis Ballesteros (170), sophomore Richie Amakiri (182), senior Eliyas Peray (220) and state-rated senior Alex Diaz (285) all registered pins with Alex Diaz raising his record to 22-2 as Plano jumped on top 34-6.

“I’ve had a great season so far and was able to get a pretty quick pin tonight,” Alex Diaz said. “I thought we might run away with the match but Morris really put us to the test down the stretch.”

The Morris resurgence started with wins from freshman Owen Slater (106), junior Ella McDonnell (113) – a fourth place finisher in girls wrestling last year – and a pinfall from freshman Carter Skoff (120) to cut Plano’s lead to 34-24.

Then came the Morris senior Jasmine (Charlie) Patino wrestling in her first varsity match against the boys on her senior night.

Patino trailed 10-0 against Plano freshman Liam Henle after two periods, having endured multiple long pin attempts, which Patino managed to evade.

She then flipped the script in the third period, taking Henle down early in the frame and pinning him 31 seconds in to pull Morris within 34-30.

“I’m double-jointed in my body and I know (Henle) thought he had me a few times during the first two periods, but I wasn’t going to give up,” Patino said. “My only thought in my head was to tire him out because I knew he wasn’t going to pin me. After that, when I got a chance going into the third period, I went for it and made it happen on my senior night. I couldn’t be more proud of myself.”

Morris freshman Kazden Klinker (132) followed and produced a pin that put the home team ahead 36-34 before Trevion Gilford closed things out in style for the visitors.

“I can’t say how proud I am of our group tonight with only two seniors,” Morris coach Lenny Tryner said. “We never gave up and what Charlie (Patino) did in her match to give us a chance was incredible. But give a great amount of credit to Plano because they eventually closed out a tremendous and exciting wrestling match in the end.”