Late pins propel Heritage past Wakefield wrestling
Heritage freshman Josiah Davis insisted he wasn’t nervous prior to stepping on the mat for the 145-pound bout that would decide the winner of Thursday’s Cap-8 wrestling match against Wakefield. It was easy to believe him after his decisive pin of Chad Woodrow capped a late comeback for the Huskies in their 40-36 victory.
Brown pinned Woodrow in 1 minute, 42 seconds. The victory followed pins by teammates Anthony Brito (132 pounds) and Billy Bosse (138), as Heritage (14-9, 2-4 Cap-8) wiped out a 36-22 deficit in keeping Wakefield (9-17, 0-6) in search of its first conference victory of the season.
“I had wrestled him before in a tournament, so it wasn’t my first time against him,” said Davis, who had pinned Woodruff in their previous encounter at the Wolverine Challenge in December. “I just had to make sure I pinned him so I could pull out the victory for my team.”
Wakefield had taken a 36-22 lead when Trey Roberts pulled out a 4-1 decision over Michael Russo at 126.
Brito and Bosse countered with pins, both by cradle, to put Brown in position to win the match for Heritage. Brito pinned Ben Buenviaje in 54 seconds at 132, and Bosse pinned Tyler Young in 2:54 at 138 to draw Heritage within 36-34.
In the finale, Brown took control early, slamming Woodruff to the mat for a five-point move within the opening minute. He turned Woodruff over on his back again moments later, and this time he finished off the pin that elicited a hearty cheer from the Heritage faithful.
“Josiah did a heck of a job,” Heritage coach Thomas Durham said. “He’s a freshman, and I think he has a 6-12 record, and he went out there and put the team on his shoulders and won the match for us.”
Wakefield coach Dustin Stewart, though disappointed with the outcome had no qualm’s with his team’s performance, considering two of his wrestlers – including 220-pounder Hieu Hoang – missed the match in order to fulfill some academic commitments. Hoang’s absence was particularly felt as Heritage’s Josiah Brown received a forfeit at 220.
“We lost by four and gave up three forfeits,” Stewart said. “I’m totally pleased with the way we wrestled, hats off to Heritage.
“I have a young team, only two seniors and a lot of freshmen and sophomores … they’re learning but I like where they’re heading.”
Cody Jackson (152) and Sheriff Njie (160) won by forfeit and Charlie Barefoot prevailed by a 9-0 decision over Reece McArthur as Heritage took an early 16-0 lead.
Wakefield won seven of the next eight bouts. Allen Widdifield opened that stretch with a 5-4 decision over David Halatek at 182 pounds, Widdifield getting a takedown with 30 seconds remaining to break a 3-all tie, and Amechi Asonye (195), Daniel Oloyede (285) and Felipe Fuentes (120) added pins to put Wakefield in position to pull the victory before Heritage’s late heroics.
“Wakefield, we beat them by one point last year and here we are again having to win in the last match to win,” Durham said. “It’s a rivalry match, that’s what it is.”
This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 11:01 AM with the headline "Late pins propel Heritage past Wakefield wrestling."