Times Observer Photo by Cody Elms Cole Kellogg (left) and Zach Barnes (right) go head to head at 152 pounds in a cross-county meet between the Knights and Wolverines on Tuesday.

The Knights and Wolverines squared off Tuesday night in a cross-county meet that saw Eisenhower earn the win 48-25 inside Ralph J. Santo gymnasium.

“They were looking forward to it,” said Eisenhower head coach Jared Lindell. “I told my guys, listen they’re coming, so you better go take care of business.”

With the Wolverines trailing 12-6 before the first match was wrestled, Hayden Holden looked to cut into the Eisenhower lead as he took on Knights’ Griffin Williams at 127 pounds. Holden took an early 2-0 lead that grew into a 7-0 lead going into the third period. Williams was able to earn a point on an escape in the third, but Holden was too much to come back against, with the Wolverine sophomore taking the 10-1 major decision.

At 133, Chase Kyler made quick work of Nakita Nelson, earning the pin in just over a minute to give the Wolverines a 16-12 advantage.

Following a Knights’ forfeit, Derek Childs and Alex Marfink took to the mat at 145, with Childs hoping to cut into the now 10-point lead. Childs took control in the first and never let up, taking an 8-1 lead into the third where the Eisenhower senior would get the pinfall victory (4:48).

The Childs’ pin would start a hot streak for the Knights, as their next two matches would both finish in similar fashion. Cole Kellogg earned the pin (2:51) over Zach Barnes at 152 followed by Carter Campbell getting pinned (2:23) by Tucker Lindell at 160.

“I thought Zach would be a much tighter match,” said Sheffield head coach Tom Holden. “Alex tried tossing. He just kept trying to throw and you’re not throwing someone who’s six feet. He got out of his game.”

“We bumped up Bryceton (Wilkins) against Trenton (Mead), and that was giving up a lot of weight,” said Lindell. “He wrestled strong against Trenton. Trenton is one of their hammers.”

Sheffield senior Mead was able to hang onto a 9-3 decision at 189 over Wilkins for the Wolverines final win of the night. Justin Darr Jr. pinned (:39) Joseph Patrick to cap things off for the Knights at 285.

“This was a good little tune up for it,” said Lindell as the Knights enter into the postseason. “Now we got to totally change from bonus points to just surviving and getting to the next day. Get guys healthy and move on.”

Before the Wolverines head to the postseason, they’ll host Port Allegany in a rescheduled meet from January, however Holden knows as his top two seniors, Kyler and Mead need to raise the bar going into Districts.

“They both need to turn it up if they’re going to make it through Districts and into Regionals,” said Holden. “Both of those guys have heart.”

107: Juliette Morales (S) wbf.

114: Bryn Lindell (E) wbf.

121: Shawn Miller (E) wbf.

127: Hayden Holden (S) maj. dec. Griffin Williams (E), 10-1.

133: Chase Kyler (S) p. Nakita Nelson (E), :49.

139: Christian Evans (S) wbf.

145: Derek Childs (E) p. Alex Marfink (S), 4:48.

152: Cole Kellogg (E) p. Zach Barnes (S), 2:51.

160: Tucker Lindell (E) p. Carter Campbell (S), 2:23.

172: Bryce Coleson (E) wbf.

189: Trenton Mean (S) dec. Bryceton Wilkins (E), 9-3.

215: Corey Bunce (E) wbf.

285: Justin Darr Jr. (E) p. Joseph Patrick (S), :39.