The Reeths-Puffer wrestling team came just short of winning an O-K Green conference championship last season, finishing a close second to Holland.
This year the Rockets are again in hot pursuit of a league crown, and they took another step in that direction on Wednesday with a decisive 60-15 victory over Wyoming in their long -waited first home match of the season.
The victory left Reeths-Puffer with a 5-1 conference record headed into the final stretch of the regular season. The Rockets are tied for second place with Zeeland East, while Holland is in first place with a perfect league record so far.
R-P has two conference dual matches remaining, against Grand Rapids Union and Holland, followed by the conference tournament, which also plays a large role in determining the championship.
R-P's Brayden Chase, who pinned his Wyoming opponent in less than a minute.
“It’s always our first goal to win our conference because it helps us prepare for the district tournament, and we have pride in winning our conference,” said R-P coach Jared Fleming. “We came up short last year and of course are looking to get it back this year.
“We expect to win the conference and it's still in our control to do that. We need to win against Union and Holland and have a strong performance in the conference tournament at the end of the year.”
The Rockets raced past Wyoming with a ton of impressive pins.
Brayden Chase (106 pounds), Ian Cook (126), Andrew Corradin (132), Owen Schab (138), Kaden Malotke (144) Caden Huddleston (157), Sage Secrest (165) and Omillion Wyrick (175) all won their matches with pins.
R-P's Ian Cook, who had two wins on Wednesday.
Chase, Cook, Malotke and Secrest pinned their opponents less than a minute into their matches.
The Rockets also wrestled powerful Hamilton in a non-conference dual match and did not fare as well, losing 53-18.
Four R-P wrestlers posted victories against Hamilton.
The best win came at 126 pounds, when R-P standout Ian Cook snuck past Hamilton’s Bryce Morrison 4-2. The victory provided some revenge for Cook, who lost to Morrison 8-3 in a preseason scrimmage.
Malotke won his match at 144 pounds by a 12-6 decision, Secrest won at 165 pounds with a pin in 2:15, and Wyrick won at 175 pounds with a pin in 2:48.
