In previous years, Nathan McDowell’s wrestling match
probably would be nothing more than a nice warmup to the heavier
weights.
But this year it was a critical match and the catalyst to
Chaparral High School’s 35-25 victory Thursday
night against host Douglas County.
It was also Chaparral’s first win over Douglas County, a team
the Wolverines have met five times.
“This proves to the kids that hard work and preseason
conditioning pays off,” Chaparral coach Rod Padilla said. “This was
a pretty good team effort and a big victory early.”
With his team down by one point in the team standings and
McDowell trailing 4-1 late in the final period, the freshman
reversed the Wolverines’ fortunes by pinning his
opponent.
“Right now it feels awesome and great,” McDowell said. “But he’s
not the only one. There are guys out there that are better, and I
got to work harder to beat them.”
Because of new rules schools now draw to determine what weight
class will begin the contest. Previously, the 103-pounders
kick-started the action.
In this match it was the 140-pound weight bracket that got
things rolling.
This provided Chaparral with a huge advantage as the Wolverines
ripped off three wins in the first four matches.
The 171-pound match was one of the most evenly fought of the
night. It pitted Chaparral’s Andy Frohardt against Brandon
Davis.
Frohardt lost the two previous matches between the two, but this
time things would be different.
Davis led 2-1 after two periods. But Frohardt scored an escape
and later used a fireman’s carry to go up 4-2.
Davis tied it with a crucial two-point takedown with 1 minute,
30 seconds left, but Frohardt countered by getting Davis on his
back in the final 40 seconds.
“I just worked really hard in the practice room, and things are
starting to come together for me,” Frohardt said.
Douglas County faced an 18-4 deficit in the team score before
nailing three consecutive wins including a pin by Grady Nesbitt
(189 pounds) to make it a 19-18 score.
And that set the stage for McDowell’s 103-pound match against
Matt Graham.
Graham led 2-1 after the first period and scored a two-point
reversal to go ahead 4-1 with just over a minute
remaining.
Graham moved in and attempted a far-sided cradle and began to
roll McDowell over, but McDowell was able to get around and trap
Graham’s leg and get the pin.
After a forfeit at 112-pounds, Douglas County trailed
30-19.
Nate Robinson boosted the Huskies with an 8-1 beating of Garrett
Love.
In that match, Robinson led 6-1 when the action was stopped
because of an illegal hold.
Padilla disputed a call made by the official, who then responded
by penalizing the Wolverines one-point in the team score.
Robinson’s decision closed the deficit to 29-22.
Chaparral won two of the next three matches to account for the
final score.
“This is tough because we have some high expectations,” Douglas
County coach Chris Irwin said. “We just aren’t a seasoned as we
were last year so the inexperience is part of the growing pains you
have to go through.”