MUSKEGON TWP. - The Reeth-Puffer wrestling team moved one step closer to its goal of winning its fourth straight O-K Green conference championship on Friday, defeating Muskegon 50-14 at R-P’s Dan Beckeman Arena.
The Rockets, now 3-1 in the conference standings, are in second place and still face an uphill battle. They will likely have to beat Mona Shores in a dual match next week, then win the O-K Green tournament, to keep the crown.
Regardless of how it all pans out, the Rockets wrestled like a team that’s determined to reach its goal on Friday. They won six of the 11 matches, including four by pin and one by technical fall, all of which provided the team with bonus points on the scoreboard.
R-P's Jake Rozycki, left. Photo/Nick Fuller
The Rockets also benefited from forfeits in three weight classes, meaning they scored team points in nine of the 14 weight classes.
Muskegon won five matches, but all were three-point decisions with no bonus points attached. The Big Reds forfeited one team point due to a penalty.
Winning by pin were R-P’s Braxton VanHohenstein (106 pounds), Aiden Neal (165), Lyric Stewart (190) and Devin Welch (285). They combined to earn 24 points for the Rockets.
R-P's Hunter Eek , right. Photo/Nick Fuller
Travis Henderson (126) won by technical fall, good for five team points, and Jake Rozycki (144) won by decision, adding three more points to the R-P team total.
Three Rockets - Landon Learn (113), Max Knowlton (120) and Kameron Good (215) - never got the chance to compete, because the Big Reds forfeited in their weight classes, but the instant victories added 18 points to the R-P total.
R-P head coach Brad Cowles was happy with the performance, and said his lineup is starting to come together, just on time for the stretch run of the conference season.
Rozycki gets ready to lift his opponent. Photo/Nick Fuller
“Throughout the season, we’ve been either having one or two guys out sick or with some sort of injury,” he said.. “We're starting to get over that hump, so moving forward, it’s looking pretty good.”
VanHohenstein, a freshman, set the tone early for the Rockets by avoided his opponent's attacks and draining down his energy. With a quick burst of strength, VanHohenstein maneuvered his way to a pin with only seven seconds left in his match.
“I'm nervous going out there, but once I got out there, I was real comfortable, and then I was real happy to get the pin under the lights at home,” VanHohenstein said.
R-P's Aiden Neal, left. Photo/Nick Fuller
That opening pin fired up the Rockets, according to Coach Cowles.
“It’s so impressive - getting that first win is always important,” the coach said. “It always sets the tone for the remainder of the match.”
Henderson, ranked 12th in the state in his weight class, went down 3-0 early in his match, but took the lead with an escape and takedown. A late push of power and points gave Henderson the win by technical fall, 24-7.
R-P's Landon Learn. Photo/Nick Fuller
Rozycki battled his way to an 8-1 win. Neal got a pair of takedowns in the first period of his match before pinning his opponent.
Stewart made a statement for the home team by outmuscling and pinning his opponent in just 51 seconds.
“We lost a couple before me, so I was gonna come in with a bang,” Stewart said.. “Get in and out.”
Welch got the last big win, getting a pin in the second period.