The No. 7-ranked Vikings got all seniors into the lineup while taking a pair of Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference wrestling duals Wednesday at Niles High School.

Senior members of the team were honored before the varsity matches. A momentum of silence was observed for three-year wrestler Chris Welsh who died Oct. 21, 2015.

Niles bested St. Joseph 57-15 and Benton Harbor 78-6 Wednesday with the Vikings taking three victories on the mat each against the Bears and Tigers while earning a total of 17 forfeits.

The SMAC quadrangular meet also saw Lakeshore top Benton Harbor 81-0 and St. Joseph 63-7.

Cole Simpson (130 pounds) was a two-time on-mat winner for Niles. The Vikings (10-3) also got non-forfeit triumphs from Mitch Findeisen (135) and Quintin Smith (152) against St. Joseph and Nathan Frary (103) and Cody Glick (189) against Benton Harbor.

Simpson scored the first takedown of his match against St. Joe’s Trey Cuellar and produced a reversal and another takedown in the third period of a 9-5 decision.

Simpson pinned Benton Harbor’s D’Myron Guidry in 1:31.

Findeisen took a 3-2 lead into the third period before pinning St. Joseph’s Jacob Kelly in 5:05.

Smith picked up a fall victory in 59 seconds against the Bears’ Zack Borgerson.

Frary posted a 38-second pin against Benton Harbor’s Aalyiah Jefferson-Crenshaw.

Flick took 2:25 to pin the Tigers’ Avontae Young.

So what are the Vikings doing well as it has less than a month left in the regular season?

“I don’t know yet,” Niles head coach Todd Hesson said. “We have a lot of things to fix. The kids are young and raw and it’s a work-in-progress.”

The Vikings are scheduled to visit Mattawan for another SMAC Quad (Niles is to compete against Mattawan and Kalamazoo Central) Wednesday, then go to the Lakeshore Super Duals on Jan. 23.

 

NILES 57, ST. JOSEPH 15

(Competition Began at 112)

 At Niles

103: Isaac Meyer (SJ) d. Nathan Frary 10-4. 112: Andrew Flick (N) by forfeit. 119: Cade Stephenson (N) by forfeit. 125: Reese Gardner (N) by forfeit. 130: Cole Simpson (N) d. Trey Cueller 9-5. 135: Mitch Findeisen (N) p. Jacob Kelly 5:05. 140: Josh House (N) by forfeit.

145: Courtland Lumberton (N) by forfeit. 152: Quintin Smith (N) p. Zack Borgerson :59. 160: Carter Hall (SJ) d. Devonte Gaskill 5-3 (ot). 171: Robbie Thomas (SJ) p. Kevin Walker 1:12. 189: Sukhbir Singh (SJ) d. Cody Glick 6-3 (ot). 215: Braulio Sosa (N) by forfeit. 285: Jason Echeverria (N) by forfeit.

 

NILES 78, BENTON HARBOR 6

(Competition Began at 119)

103: Nathan Frary (N) p. Aalyiah Jefferson-Crenshaw :38. 112: Andrew Flick (N) by forfeit. 119: Cade Stephenson  by forfeit. 125: Reese Gardner (N) by forfeit. 130: Cole Simpson (N) p. D’Myron Guidry 1:31. 135: Gabe Broome (N) by forfeit. 140: Josh House (N) by forfeit.

145: Courtland Lamberton (N) by forfeit. 152: Quintin Smith (N) by forfeit. 160: Devonte Gaskill (N) by forfeit. 171: Chris Johnson (BH) p. Kevin Walker 1:43. 189: Cody Glick (N) p. Avontae Young 2:25. 215: Braulio Sosa (N) by forfeit. 285: Sam Soto (N) by forfeit.

Varsity record: Niles 10-3.