Avila Drops Close Dual against Saint Mary
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For the second straight Thursday night, Avila men's wrestling opened the doors of Mabee Fieldhouse for a KCAC wrestling dual against an early conference contender. Unlike last week, however, the (RV) Eagles (1-5) were right there in the mix until the very end, where (19) Saint Mary pulled off wins in the final three weight classes to escape with a 29-22 team victory.
Duals typically kick off at the 125-pound weight class, but it can start at any of the ten weights if both teams agree in advance. It's uncommon, but certainly standard, and that's what the two local rivals elected to do on Thursday night. The dual started at 149 and finished at 141, which enabled the Spires to line up three of their nationally-ranked wrestlers to close the night, but also gave the Eagles a legitimate chance to pull out the dual if a couple of results fell their way.
The Eagles fared pretty well against KCAC heavyweights Ottawa last week, but Saint Mary has a ton of quality wrestlers this season and looks like a real league contender – and still, Avila was right there in the dual until the very end. The team scores were separated by just one point going into the final two bouts, and USM did just enough, pulling out major decisions in both of those contests, to rally and win the dual by a slim 29-22 scoreline.
With the dual starting at 149, the Spires started off strong, getting a pin and a major at the first two weights to go up 10-0 early. But the Eagles quickly proved that they were ready to show up for this contest. After Jake Callahan got Avila on the board with a forfeit win at 165, Corey Holmes dominated Tanner Van Scoy in a resounding 18-1 tech fall at 174 and Daryus Webb followed with a prototypical Webb performance, pinning Ben Vogt in the first period at 184.
That gave the Eagles a 17-10 advantage. USM cut back into that with a pin from Ryker Blackburn at 197, but Nathan Coley punched back with a dominant 16-1 tech over Chris Huslig at heavyweight. Avila held a 22-16 lead as the dual flipped back over to the lightweights, but that's where Saint Mary is strongest, and the Spires were ready to go. The Spires got a tech fall at 125 and, despite strong battles from Luke Ward and Jacob Ramirez, USM got those two major decisions at 133 and 141 to win the dual. Avila had a chance to win the whole thing with one more positive individual result, but the Spires were able to pull out the victory, 29-22.
Up next, Avila women's wrestling will return to Mabee Fieldhouse for the 2023 edition of the Eagle Duals, a full day of dual action across four mats next Saturday, December 16. Action kicks off on all four mats at 10 AM, and every dual will be streamed live on the Avila Sports Network. More details on competition, schedule and further information will be released next week, so stay tuned to our website and our social media for all the coverage of the 2023 Eagle Duals next weekend.
