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Knights make quick work of Bears

Eisenhower’s Easton Hedman gets Union City’s James Leyda in a headlock during their 132-pound bout on Wednesday at Eisenhower High School. Hedman earned a 7-3 decision and EHS came away with a 62-18 victory.

The Eisenhower Knights returned to their home mat on Wednesday, dominating Region 3 foe Union City to the tune of a 62-18 victory.

The Knights got bonus points up and down the lineup, with six wins via fall and another by tech fall.

“We got a lot of bonus, which was nice,” said Eisenhower coach Kris Black. “Union City is missing a couple of their better guys and that plays into it. We’ve all been there. I thought our guys wrestled aggressively.”

Logan Jaquay (120), Gannon Jaquay (138), Alex Hummel (152), Benji Bauer (160), Cael Black (285) and Anthony Rivera (106) all won via pin for the Knights, while Josh Bortz got the tech fall victory at 145.

Eisenhower also got three wins via forfeit and, despite the margin of victory, coach Black knows his team can get better.

“They did a nice job, but at the same time I thought we were kind of flat, if I’m being honest,” he said. “There were some places where we looked flat. I’m not sure if it’s because we had Cambridge last Thursday and Tool City Friday and Saturday. We have to fine-tune real quick because we go to Falconer for a two-day tournament up there. And I think we will.”

Ethan Nizzi won by forfeit to get things going at 113 and Logan Jaquay followed with a first-period pin against UC’s Zac Beckwith.

Jake Williams had some tough luck at 126. The Eisenhower junior had a takedown in the second period to take a 4-2 lead against the Bears’ Austin Dolan. But Dolan got an escape to start the third to get within 4-3, a takedown to grab the lead at 5-4 and then put Williams on his back for a late pin.

“Everything seemed to go right, except for maybe some tough luck with Jake’s match,” Black said.

Easton Hedman followed with a match against UC’s James Leyda that saw the only decision of the evening. Tied 2-2 going into the third period, Hedman got a quick reversal followed by a near fall to earn the 7-3 triumph.

Gannon Jaquay, Bortz and Hummel followed at 138, 145 and 152, respectively.

Jaquay got a second-period pin, while Bortz dominated on his way to the tech fall in the third period and Hummel got up 10-0 before pinning Jesse Kightlinger at the 5:18 mark.

“I thought Gannon wrestled well. Benji Bauer did a nice job bumping up a weight,” noted coach Black.

Steven Reilly (170) and Josh Parker (195) went up against two of UC’s studs, Nick Kaday and Marshall VanTassel, both falling via first period pin.

As Black alluded to, UC was also missing a couple of wrestlers, including Austin Jaquith, who likely would have matched up with Bauer at 160.

“Van Tassel’s a stud at 95 and Kaday’s really good at 170,” he said.

Jeremyah Aiken (182) and Jesse Gourley (220) both won via forfeit, while Cael Black bumped up to heavyweight and got a first-period pin against Braxton Kent.

“We bumped Cael up to heavyweight just trying to get him a little heavier guy and see how he deals with that,” coach Black said. “We didn’t know for sure what was going to happen there. We decided we’ll go with Cael at heavy and Jesse at 220. He wrestled well going up against a bigger guy.”

Rivera closed the night with a first-period pin.

“I thought Rivera wrestled a nice match in the last match of the night,” coach Black said. “Anthony is getting better each time out. He’s been a nice addition for us.”

Eisenhower now turns its attention to the Patrick J. Morales Memorial Tournament at Falconer on Friday and Saturday.

It’s an event they are looking forward to.

“The guys are excited for it,” Black said. “I’m interested to see how we’re going to do this weekend. We had a decent showing at Tool City, but I think we hopefully hit our stride this weekend at Falconer.”

– – –

EISENHOWER 62, UNION CITY 18

113: Ethan Nizzi (E) won by forfeit

120: Logan Jaquay (E) pin Zac Beckwith, 1:30

126: Austin Dolan (U) pin Jake Williams, 5:14

132: Easton Hedman (E) dec. James Leyda, 7-3

138: Gannon Jaquay (E) pin Jayson Soliwada, 3:38

145: Josh Bortz (E) tech fall Kyle Myers, 16-1, 4:27

152: Alex Hummel (E) pin Jesse Kightlinger, 5:18

160: Benji Bauer (E) pin Cody Carr, 1:59

170: Nick Kaday (U) pin Steven Reilly, 1:02

182: Jeremyah Aiken (E) won by forfeit

195: Marshall VanTassel (U) pin Josh Parker, :22

220: Jesse Gourley (E) won by forfeit

285: Cael Black (E) pin Braxton Kent, 1:39

106: Anthony Rivera (E) pin Evan Smith, 1:48

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