By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
The Dowagiac varsity wrestling team went 2-2 at the Kalamazoo Loy Norrix Invitational on Saturday.
The Chieftains defeated Flint Central in its opening round match, 40-27. Dowagiac also defeated host Loy Norrix, 57-15.
The Chieftains were defeated by St. Joseph, 48-20, and lost to South Haven, 47-22.
"It was kind of a tough day for the Chieftains," Dowagiac coach John Green said. "Flint Central, who we wrestled first, was a very, very physical team. We had a young official and we had to endure a lot of choking and around the throat stuff. They were very physical. We just never seemed to recover from it."
Dowagiac had two wrestlers injured during the match.
Freshman Andrew Roden was the lone Chieftain to post an undefeated mark as he went 4-0 on the day.
Going 3-1 for Dowagiac were Nathan Cottrell, Richie Hutchinson and Drew Staley. Nate Behnke, Andrew Hurrle, Nathan Long, Terry Prowoznik and Zach Roden were all 2-2.
Robert Wescott had a 2-1 record on the day, while Kyle Abbott and Michael McNeil won their lone matches.
Dowagiac was 29-27 in matches won on the day and 139-137 in total team points.
"Looking at those, I guess we should have been 2-2," Green commented.
Dowagiac will return to action on Thursday when it travels to Niles for a non-conference match with a pair of former Big 16 Conference foes. The Chieftains will take on Benton Harbor and the host Vikings in a match slated to begin at 6 p.m.