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What a rollercoaster inside the Dodge City Field House Thursday night as the Dodge City Demons took on the Pratt Greenbacks in a dual that would either prove the Demons were back on track or closer to derailing.
It might have taken a walk-off home run from Francisco Serna to turn this team's season around.
Thursday night was Wrangler Wrestling Club night, as youth wrestlers within the club and volunteers that help make it happen were honored inbetween the JV and varsity matches.
Then the curtains rose and it was time for the main event to occur.
Things couldn't have started off any better for the Demons as David Montonya earned a 13-3 major decision over Trae' Foreman at 106 pounds to kick off the festivities.
Senior Alex Garcia followed that victory with a win of his own, a 10-4 decision over Cesar Regalado, one that Garcia had to fight for to win. Midway through the first period, Garcia found himself down 2-0 to the sophomore, but quickly rebounded in the second and third stanzas to capture the win and 7-0 lead for Dodge.
Next up was Jaquan Graves at 120 pounds, who has been a definite surprise within the Demon wrestling organization, stepping up to the plate and delivering key points when needed.
Graves tustled in a back and forth battle between Josh Ash of the Greenbacks. He found himself down 4-3 toward the end of the second period, before he turned his hips on Ash and countered for a three-point near fall.
However, Ash would recover and reverse Graves for a two point swing, tying things up at six going into the third.
A quick takedown from Ash had the sophomore Graves looking for an answer. He found it when he manuevered his own two-point reverse to once again tie things up at eight.
With Graves on bottom position and less than 20 seconds left, all he needed was an escape to give him the one-point victory — he did the crowd one better.
With under 10 seconds to go, Graves rolled over Ash and spun the freshman around, earning the Demon a two-point takedown and a 10-8 decision as the final buzzer sounded.
"He is a consistent part of our lineup that we rely on and it's really great to see where he came from as opposed to last year to the point where he is at now," said head coach Lars Lueders. "We're always proud of Jaquan and what he does for the team."
Dane Edwards proved he was still in top form, pinning freshman Hudson Swift in the first period to give Dodge a 16-0 advantage.
But just as it seemed the Demon trail was rolling right along, the wheels began to come off as Pratt reeled off four matches in row, including three straight pins to springboard them into the lead, 21-16.
In to save the day, potentially, was Dodge City's third returning state place winner from a season ago, Jacon Eggers. He faced off with sophomore Taylor White, as the Demon crowd fell silent and the Pratt faithful were ready to party all the way back home.
Eggers slithered around the mat like a viper waiting to strike his opponent when he least expected it, doing so almost midway through the match, mashing White to the canvas and down for the count.
His pin recpatured the lead for the Demons, 22-21.
At 170 pounds, junior Corey Keller earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Weston Reiner, stretching the Dodge lead to four, but they weren't out of the woods just yet.
The Greenbacks capitalized on some Dodge City mistakes as they used a pin and a major decision to retake the lead at 31-25.
It is hard to look ahead, but in the heavyweight slot, Pratt had an open wrestler, meaning that Trae Phillips was guaranteed a six-point win for the Demons.
So it was simple — if Francisco Serna can pull off the win, the Demons send the Greenbacks packing.
So the tables were set, Serna facing off with junior Austin Gates. The crowd on both sides realizing what was at stake, began to get into the dual more than they had all night, only adding to the suspense being felt on the Demon bench.
Serna fell behind quickly after Gates was able to manuever around him and earn the two-point takedown. However, Serna managed to cut into that lead by one by getting an escape before the end of the period.
The final two periods were an epic showdown between two kids who realized the winner of their match meant victory or defeat for their teammates.
Gates stayed ahead most of the match, but never was it more than a couple of points, a deficit Serna could easily make up as the two began to wear down.
It came down to the third period, Gates leading and on the verge of sending the Dodge crowd home disappointed, but just as he swung in for a match-ending takedown, Serna reversed the fate of his opponent, flipping him back to the mat.
The match was within a minute to go as Serna had the Dodge City bench jumping out of their wrestling shoes.
The whistle from the referee signaled the end of the match and a pin for Serna, the final score — Dodge City 37, Pratt 31.
For Serna, the pin over Gates had a little extra meaning behind it.
"Francisco had been pinned by the Pratt kid earlier in the year during the last tournament we wrestled at Bishop Carroll," Lueders said. "That was his last match of the day. So Francisco went out and tried everything he could and it's really great to see a kid put down his guard and put it all out there and that's what he did. That was really big for our fans and really big for our bench."
Next up for the Demons will be a trip to Salina as they participate in the Salina South Invitational, one that finished in third a year ago and won the year before that.
Lueders hopes his guys can use this momentum to turn that invite into a success.
"This shows that a lot the hard work our guys have put in has paid off, with the effort and time they put in during winter break," Lueders said. "It boosts their confidence going into this weekend, so if we can place decently high at this tournament, it will set us up for the second half of the year."
What a rollercoaster inside the Dodge City Field House Thursday night as the Dodge City Demons took on the Pratt Greenbacks in a dual that would either prove the Demons were back on track or closer to derailing.
It might have taken a walk-off home run from Francisco Serna to turn this team's season around.
Thursday night was Wrangler Wrestling Club night, as youth wrestlers within the club and volunteers that help make it happen were honored inbetween the JV and varsity matches.
Then the curtains rose and it was time for the main event to occur.
Things couldn't have started off any better for the Demons as David Montonya earned a 13-3 major decision over Trae' Foreman at 106 pounds to kick off the festivities.
Senior Alex Garcia followed that victory with a win of his own, a 10-4 decision over Cesar Regalado, one that Garcia had to fight for to win. Midway through the first period, Garcia found himself down 2-0 to the sophomore, but quickly rebounded in the second and third stanzas to capture the win and 7-0 lead for Dodge.
Next up was Jaquan Graves at 120 pounds, who has been a definite surprise within the Demon wrestling organization, stepping up to the plate and delivering key points when needed.
Graves tustled in a back and forth battle between Josh Ash of the Greenbacks. He found himself down 4-3 toward the end of the second period, before he turned his hips on Ash and countered for a three-point near fall.
However, Ash would recover and reverse Graves for a two point swing, tying things up at six going into the third.
A quick takedown from Ash had the sophomore Graves looking for an answer. He found it when he manuevered his own two-point reverse to once again tie things up at eight.
With Graves on bottom position and less than 20 seconds left, all he needed was an escape to give him the one-point victory — he did the crowd one better.
With under 10 seconds to go, Graves rolled over Ash and spun the freshman around, earning the Demon a two-point takedown and a 10-8 decision as the final buzzer sounded.
"He is a consistent part of our lineup that we rely on and it's really great to see where he came from as opposed to last year to the point where he is at now," said head coach Lars Lueders. "We're always proud of Jaquan and what he does for the team."
Dane Edwards proved he was still in top form, pinning freshman Hudson Swift in the first period to give Dodge a 16-0 advantage.
But just as it seemed the Demon trail was rolling right along, the wheels began to come off as Pratt reeled off four matches in row, including three straight pins to springboard them into the lead, 21-16.
In to save the day, potentially, was Dodge City's third returning state place winner from a season ago, Jacon Eggers. He faced off with sophomore Taylor White, as the Demon crowd fell silent and the Pratt faithful were ready to party all the way back home.
Eggers slithered around the mat like a viper waiting to strike his opponent when he least expected it, doing so almost midway through the match, mashing White to the canvas and down for the count.
His pin recpatured the lead for the Demons, 22-21.
At 170 pounds, junior Corey Keller earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Weston Reiner, stretching the Dodge lead to four, but they weren't out of the woods just yet.
The Greenbacks capitalized on some Dodge City mistakes as they used a pin and a major decision to retake the lead at 31-25.
It is hard to look ahead, but in the heavyweight slot, Pratt had an open wrestler, meaning that Trae Phillips was guaranteed a six-point win for the Demons.
So it was simple — if Francisco Serna can pull off the win, the Demons send the Greenbacks packing.
So the tables were set, Serna facing off with junior Austin Gates. The crowd on both sides realizing what was at stake, began to get into the dual more than they had all night, only adding to the suspense being felt on the Demon bench.
Serna fell behind quickly after Gates was able to manuever around him and earn the two-point takedown. However, Serna managed to cut into that lead by one by getting an escape before the end of the period.
The final two periods were an epic showdown between two kids who realized the winner of their match meant victory or defeat for their teammates.
Gates stayed ahead most of the match, but never was it more than a couple of points, a deficit Serna could easily make up as the two began to wear down.
It came down to the third period, Gates leading and on the verge of sending the Dodge crowd home disappointed, but just as he swung in for a match-ending takedown, Serna reversed the fate of his opponent, flipping him back to the mat.
The match was within a minute to go as Serna had the Dodge City bench jumping out of their wrestling shoes.
The whistle from the referee signaled the end of the match and a pin for Serna, the final score — Dodge City 37, Pratt 31.
For Serna, the pin over Gates had a little extra meaning behind it.
"Francisco had been pinned by the Pratt kid earlier in the year during the last tournament we wrestled at Bishop Carroll," Lueders said. "That was his last match of the day. So Francisco went out and tried everything he could and it's really great to see a kid put down his guard and put it all out there and that's what he did. That was really big for our fans and really big for our bench."
Next up for the Demons will be a trip to Salina as they participate in the Salina South Invitational, one that finished in third a year ago and won the year before that.
Lueders hopes his guys can use this momentum to turn that invite into a success.
"This shows that a lot the hard work our guys have put in has paid off, with the effort and time they put in during winter break," Lueders said. "It boosts their confidence going into this weekend, so if we can place decently high at this tournament, it will set us up for the second half of the year."
