Baxter wrestling downs Collins-Maxwell on Senior Night

BAXTER — Baxter senior Brad Matthews trailed Collins-Maxwell’s Clayton Leslie 13-3 in their match at 145 pounds on Thursday night.

But midway through the second period, momentum started to shift and Matthews began to wear down the Spartan grappler.

In the third period, Matthews put Leslie on his back for a third-period pin and the crowd went crazy.

It was a strong finish to the night for Matthews and the Bolts as Baxter downed short-handed Collins-Maxwell 66-9 on Senior Night.

“Tonight was about our seniors. Going out with that win was great for Brad. It’s a testament to the type of wrestler and the type of kid he is,” Baxter head wrestling coach Joe Amadeo said. “He never quits. He never gives up and always gives 100 percent. It showed in that last match. Happy to see him go out with that win.”

The Bolts went 1-2 on the night as they lost 41-36 to a good North Mahaska squad and were defeated 40-30 by English Valleys, a team Baxter had beaten twice earlier this season.

“I thought we started slow. I would have liked to see us wrestle tougher against English Valleys,” Amadeo said. “We were a lot better in the second two duals.”

The Bolts honored their three seniors — Matthews, Micah Kearns and Kailee Conradi — before wrestling Collins-Maxwell.

But it was the young guys who carried Baxter on the mat. Freshmen Callyn Bishop and Ashton Kerwin both were 3-0 with a combined five pins. Freshman Jacob Hiemstra also scored a pair of pins in his three matches and finished 2-1 on the night.

“Our team is still so young,” Amadeo said. “We are excited about the future.”

Against Collins-Maxwell, Baxter was 4-1 in contested matches. And the only loss was sophomore Cole Smith (120) against senior Jacob Pierick. This was the first time this season though that Smith didn’t give up bonus points against Pierick as he lost 9-5.

Bishop (152), Hiemstra (170), Kerwin (126) and Matthews (145) all won by fall and Cody Samson (160), Kearns (220), Aiden McFadden (285), Conradi (113), Curtis Gliem (132) and Kolton Hill all took forfeits.

As a team and individually, we are making huge strides. We are trying to communicate to them to trust the process. When you come watch them wrestle, you see the process start to play out.

—  Baxter head wrestling coach Joe Amadeo

The Spartans were down a handful of wrestlers for the quadrangular. Baxter improved to 3-1 against Collins-Maxwell this season.

The Bolts were 4-5 in contested matches against North Mahaska. Bishop, Hiemstra, Kearns and Gliem all won by fall. Conradi and Kerwin both took forfeits.

“As a team and individually, we are making huge strides,” Amadeo said. “We are trying to communicate to them to trust the process. When you come watch them wrestle, you see the process start to play out.”

Baxter defeated English Valleys 39-19 and 48-30 in its other two matchups this season. The Bears flipped the script on Thursday though, going 7-3 in contested matches.

The Bolts got pins from Bishop, Cody Samson (160) and Kerwin and McFadden and Smith took forfeits.

Bishop was 3-0 on the night with three pins.

“He’s another guy we are excited about. We have a lot of those types of kids,” Amadeo said.

The Bolts were 11-13 in contested matches. Kerwin joined Bishop at 3-0 and he had two pins. Samson, Hiemstra, Kearns, McFadden, Conradi and Gliem all had their hands raised twice.