By By ERIKA PICKLES / Dowagiac Daily News
NILES – The senior leadership shined Thursday evening in the Vikings' gymnasium as the Niles wrestling team grabbed a pair of wins to make Senior Night twice as nice.
The Vikings defeated Benton Harbor in the first match of the night, 84-0, and handed Dowagiac a 41-15 loss.
"We felt really good about our wins, especially over Dowagiac because they have some really tough kids," Viking coach Bob Galvin said.
The Vikings had some exciting matches come from Nate Allison, Andy Karsten and John Wreggelsworth.
Allison defeated Dowagiac's Nathan Cottrell, 7-5, in the 112-pound weight class in the final six seconds of the match. The two were tied at five with 25 seconds on the clock when Allison was given two points for a takedown.
Karsten defeated Richie Hutchinson at 135-pounds, 8-6, in another close match that fell in the Viking's hands in the final seconds.
Wregglesworth pulled off a big win over Terry Prowoznik at 145-pounds, posting a 13-5 victory.
Although he lost, Galvin was very pleased with the performance of 152-pounder Derek Purcell.
Purcell was defeated by Dowagiac's DeShaun Baylock, 4-2.
Other victories against the Chieftains came from Gage Pearison (103), Marcus Bricker (119), Jake Glueckert (125), Todd Scansen (140), Ben Brandstatter (160), Alex Zanders (171) and Kenyon Ellison (275).
Besides Baylock, Dowagiac earned victories at 189-, 215- and 135-pounds.
Drew Staley pinned Chad Nichols in 3:47 at 215-pounds, while Zach Roden decisioned Bryce Flannery at 135-pounds, 5-3.
Nate Behnke decisioned Micah Barrett at 189-pounds, 6-2.
"I thought last night we wrestled pretty well," Dowagiac coach John Green said. "We lost a lot of close matches. We were wrestling a team with 10 seniors in the line up. It's a difference between guys who are seniors wrestling against juniors and sophomores. I am more positive about this loss than I was last week about two wins."
Dowagiac…15
Niles…41
103: Gage Pearison (N) d. Andrew Roden 26-9
112: Nate Allison (N) d. Nathan Cottrell 7-5
119: Marcus Bricker (N) d. Bobby Price 8-2
125: Jake Glueckert (N) p. John Morseau 3:22
130: Zach Roden (D) d. Bryce Flannery 5-3
135: Andrew Karsten (N) d. Richie Hutchinson 8-6
140: Todd Scansen (N) d. Nate Long 6-3
145: John Wregglesworth (N) d. Terry Prowoznik 13-5
152: DeShaun Baylock (D) d. Derek Purcell 4-2
160: Ben Brandstatter (N) p. Mike McNeil 1:16
171: Alex Zanders (N) d. Andrew Hurrle 7-3
189: Nathan Behnke (D) d. Micah Barrett 6-2
215: Drew Staley (D) p. Chad Nichols 3:47
285: Kenyon Ellison (N) p. Robert Wescott 3:14