PCM girls score two wins in only home meet of the season

MONROE — The first-ever home dual for the PCM girls wrestling team was electric.

The stands were full for both the boys and girls on Dec. 18, and the Mustangs scored a pair of wins on the girls’ side in front a loud and energetic crowd.

“Our goal was to introduce this team to the community,” PCM head girls wrestling coach Ervan DeVore said. “It was packed, and it was loud. The crowd was excellent.”

PCM opened its night with a 54-15 win over Clarke and then downed Oskaloosa 36-25 later.

The Mustangs were aided by 11 forfeits total in the two duals. They were 4-2 against Clarke in contested matches.

Hadley Millang (135), Carly Wilkerson (155), Emma Beyer (170) and Emilyn Davis (235) all won by fall to power PCM against the Indians. It was the first-ever contested win for Davis, who went 2-0 for the night after taking a forfeit against Oskaloosa.

“The girls are learning and coming around,” DeVore said. “They are wrestling tough competition. We got a late start into the season and couldn’t really get to choose the meets and duals that were good for us. We’re taking on everyone and holding our own.”

There were two double forfeits in the dual and PCM was 5-1 in forfeits against Clarke. Ryan DeVore (105), Addison Fry (110), Allie Minteer (115), Courtney Cole (120) and Holly Wood (140) all took forfeits for the Mustangs.

PCM had a 6-0 surplus in forfeits against Oskaloosa, but those Indians won all five contested matches. DeVore, Minteer, Wood, Wilkerson, Beyer and Davis accepted the forfeits.

DeVore, Minteer and Wood were 2-0 with two forfeits, while Wilkerson, Beyer and Davis also finished 2-0 for the night.

The Mustangs were the aggressor in both duals, but struggled to finish their shots for points. Clarke and Oskaloosa often times scored their points by simply countering the Mustangs.

“We want to be the aggressor,” DeVore said. “We just haven’t figured out how to pull that in and finish those off. We’ll get there.

“All but three of our girls are brand new to this sport. They’ve been wrestling for six weeks. They have a lot to learn still. What we’ve been pushing the last two weeks is we’ve seen a lot of smoke and sparks but we want the fire. Tonight we came out with fire. I’m super proud of them. I’m proud of the losses, too.”

Mustangs go 1-2 in road quadrangular

NEVADA — Beyer got her hand raised three times and Millang and Lily Birkenholtz both won twice, but the Mustangs found the win column just once as a team during a road quadrangular on Tuesday.

PCM defeated Columbus Catholic 48-12 but suffered a 51-18 loss to host Nevada and struggled in a 72-6 defeat against Ottumwa.

The Mustangs won three contested matches against Columbus Catholic. Millang (135), Kain (145) and Birkenholtz (190) all won by fall, while Fry (110), Cole (115), Wilkerson (155), Beyer (170) and Davis (235) all accepted forfeits.

Millang scored a win by fall against Nevada, but that was the team’s only contested victory. Beyer (12-2) and Birkenholtz took forfeits at their weights.

The only points against Ottumwa came on a forfeit win from Beyer. She was 3-0 with three forfeits.

Millang (10-7) finished 2-1 with two pins and Birkenholtz won once by fall and once by forfeit.