By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - From the first bout of Thursday evening's wrestling match between Niles and Kalamazoo Central, it was obvious that it was going to be a long night for the Vikings.
Micah Barrett was the first to wrestle for Niles at 215 pounds against Max Pohl.
In a close match that stopped every few minutes due to a nose bleed, Barrett and Pohl both exchanged leads throughout the bout, but as time expired, Barrett claimed the 11-9 win with some relief lifted off his shoulder…or so he thought.
Ron Russo, head coach of the Giants, disputed the win, stating it should have been a tie match.
After reviewing the score sheets and discussing the issue, the officials determined that the score was a tie and the bout went into overtime, tied at 11.
Twenty seconds into the fourth period, Pohl took the 13-11 win with a take down.
The next two wrestlers, Kenyon Ellison at 275 and Marcus Bricker at 103, were both pinned, giving Kalamazoo Central a 15-0 lead.
Jake Glueckert took the first win for Niles at 112 pounds when he defeated Colin Stivers, 9-1.
Bryce Flannery also defeated his opponent, Ammeer Al-Gharib, 18-6 and Andrew Karsten pinned Wade Belanger at 125 pounds to bring the score within one point, 15-14, in favor of the Giants.
Niles' Nate Heierman was pinned by Alex Ermatinger at 130 pounds at the 2:21 mark, but Mason Stephenson brought the Vikes back within one point when he pinned Ben Carr with 1:12 on the clock in the 135 pound class.
Travis Everett of Kalamazoo defeated Todd Scansen, 13-6, at 140 pounds and John Wregglesworth was pinned by Jared Nabors at the 3:58 mark in the second period of the 145 pound weight class.
Ben Brandstatter and Alex Zanders were the last two Vikes to pick up wins.
Brandstatter defeated Will Jackson, 6-4, at 152 pounds and Zanders pinned Corey Marsden in the 189 pound class 4:40 into the third period.
Jake Groves (160) was defeated by Mike Gouterman, 5-0, and Casey Wirick (171) was defeated by Craig Wimbley, 21-6.
The Vikes will be hoping to rebound at the Berrien County Invitational, which begins Saturday at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph
The Niles JV will be in action at the Invitational tonight, which begins at 5 p.m.