By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES – The senior leadership shined Thursday evening in the Viking 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.
"Derek wrestled extremely well and lost a very close match," Galvin said.
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).
""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."
Before the start of the match, the seniors on the squad were recognized, with their parents, as coach Galvin gave some highlights from this season, as well as overall records for each senior.
"We start eight or nine seniors, depending on the night. We will lose 11 total after this season, which is a very big number. It's kind of nice to have this kind of experience in your line up. It was nice to see that extra bit of leadership tonight and I'm happy with the way they performed," Galvin said.
Seniors on this year's squad include Glueckert, Bryce Flannery, Karsten, Scansen, Wregglesworth, Purcell, Zanders, Micah Barrett, Chad Nichols, Aaron Johnson and Julius Roessner.
NILES … 41
DOWAGIAC … 15
103: Gage Pearison (N) dec. Andrew Roden 26-9; 112: Nate Allison (N) dec. Nathan Cottrell 7-5; 119: Marcus Bricker (N) dec. Bobby Price 8-2; 125: Jake Glueckert (N) pinned John Morseau 3:22; 130: Zach Roden (D) dec. Bryce Flannery 5-3; 135: Andrew Karsten (N) dec. Richie Hutchinson 8-6; 140: Todd Scansen (N) dec. Nate Long 6-3; 145: John Wregglesworth (N) dec. Terry Prowoznik 13-5; 152: Deshawn Baylock (D) dec. Derek Purcell 4-2; 160: Ben Brandstatter (N) pinned Mike McNeil 1:16; 171: Alex Zanders (N) dec. Andrew Hurrle 7-3; 189: Nathan Behnke (D) dec. Micah Barrett 6-2; 215: Drew Staley (D) pinned Chad Nichols 3:47; 285: Kenyon Ellison (N) pinned Robert Wescott 3:14.
NILES … 84
BENTON HARBOR … 0
103: Gage Pearison pinned Tommy Turney, 0:34; 112: Nate Allison won by forfeit; 119: Marcus Bricker pinned Jose Ramirez, 1:16; 125: Jake Glueckert won by forfeit; 130: Bryce Flannery pinned Dennis Davis, 5:59; 135: Andrew Karsten pinned Teveron Bowens, 1:00; 140: unavailable; 145: John Wregglesworth pinned Loron Patton, 0:55; 152: Derek Purcell won by forfeit; 160: Ben Brandstatter won by forfeit; 171: Alex Landers won by forfeit; 189: Micah Barrett won by forfeit; 215: Casey Wirick pinned Travis Shoemaker, 2:48; 285: Kenyon Ellison pinned Brandon Montgomery, 1:58.