By ERIKA PICKLES
Niles Daily Star

Wednesday evening included more than one victory for the Niles varsity wrestling team.
In mat action, the Vikings hosted Mattawan for a Big 16 Conference West Division meet and defeated the Wildcats, 39-27.

But off the mat, they claimed a win that didn’t include takedowns or pins.

The grapplers hosted a “Pin Down Hunger Night,” collecting non-perishable food items from spectators to help a local family in need. Those who donated received $3 off their ticket price.

“Everyone is going through hard times right now and we wanted to step in and help out a local family in need. We got a pretty big response to that and got a lot of great food items, so all in all this was a great night for us both on and off the mat,” Vikings head coach Todd Hesson said.

He added that it’s important for his wrestlers to know what it means to help out, and with a squad primarily filled with freshman and sophomores, Hesson is hoping their event will impact them in one way or another.

And the positive news continues.

Niles, now 14-7 overall, only gave up one pin on the night, while getting six of their own.
“That’s big for us. We’ve been struggling with giving up too many pins, but tonight, we did a great job of staying off our backs and that was huge for us. It definitely contributed to the win,” he said.

The Vikings, who trailed Mattawan early, received pins from Colin Burandt (130), Rashad Harris (145), Ryan Casey (171), Mike Gentry (285), Tyler Baber (103) and Gage Pearison (119).

Hesson said Gentry’s pin in 34 seconds against Adam Klage got the ball rolling for the Vikes.

Before his victory, Niles trailed the Wildcats, 27-18. Baber’s pin immediately following put the Vikings back in the match and bumped them into a 30-27 lead.

“Mike Gentry and Tyler Baber really started the spark for us. And Gage Pearison, one of our seniors, topped the night off with his 16 second pin against a good Mattawan wrestler,” Hesson said.

He also credited Rashad Harris, the only other senior on the team, for his pin against Tom Dillion at 145.

“We’re a young team and we wrestle like we’re young sometimes. But tonight we did great against a good Mattawan squad. We got wins where we needed to and our younger guys stepped up tonight. Not to mention the leadership we got from our two seniors.,” Hesson added.

Dakota Wright was the only Niles wrestler to win his match by defeat. Wright posted a 10-4 victory over Joe Rodriquez in the 112-pound class.

Niles is back in action on Saturday when it travels to Indiana for a day of NIC meets, hosted by South Bend Adams.

“We’ve got a lot of tough matches that day against some good Indiana teams, but we always look forward to the NIC meets,” Hesson concluded.

Niles…39
Mattawan…27
103: Tyler Baber (103) p. Brock Fisher, 1:00
112: Dakota Wright (N) d. Joe Rodriquez, 10-4
119: Gage Pearison (N) p. Dalton Hale, 0:13
125: Colton Lanto (M) d. Cole Allison, 14-0
130: Colin Burandt (N) p. Demetrius Tyler, 1:57
135: Logan Walters (M) d. Donte Stevens, 13-1
140: Ledlow (M) d. Robbie Legus, 9-5
145: Rashad Harris (N) p. Tom Dillion, 1:14
152: Brett Dempsey (M) d. Fritz Findiesen, 8-4
160: Corey McKague (M) d. Martell Miller, 12-7
171: Ryan Casey (N) p. Trevor Diefenbach, 5:29
189: Nate Handley (M) p. Alec Landon, 3:35
215: Alex Benson (M) d. James Asmus, 13-1
285: Mike Gentry (N) p. Adam Klage, 0:34