Sanderson wrestling
After initially being sidelined with a leg cramp, Sanderson's Marshall Bass rebounded to record a first-round pin in Wednesday's Cap-7 Conference opener against Wakefield.
Spartans score win over Wakefield
Sanderson notches five pins in Cap-7 opener
Entering his first varsity match of the season Wednesday night against Wakefield, Sanderson 112-pound wrestler Marshall Bass was taken down before he could even hit the mat.
Moments after checking in for his match — which was the first bout of the Cap-7 Conference opener — Bass grabbed a seat on the nearby bleachers, hobbled by serious leg cramps.
A minute later, with the assistance of a Spartan trainer, Bass worked out the kinks in his lower leg, took the floor and scored a pin in 1:32.
The first-round victory set the tone for Sanderson, which scored a 45-18 win over Wakefield, including pins in four of the first six matches.
"He was cramping up pretty bad, but he went in there and got the pin," said Sanderson head coach Jeremy Barefoot. "He's just a sophomore — one of several young wrestlers we have on this team.
Having lost five state-qualifiers to graduation last spring, the Spartans didn't look like they missed a step Wednesday.
Click here for highlights from Sanderson's win over Wakefield.
Following Bass' strong performance, Adam Tassitino (119), Logan Martini (135), Jeremy Hawthorne (140), Johnny Gomez (145) all followed suit recording pins of their own.
However, one of Sanderson's biggest victories of the night didn't come in the form of a pin, but it was noteworthy nonetheless.
In the 215-pound bout between the Spartans' Marcus Felton and the Wolverines' Caleb Killion, Felton scored a hard-fought 5-2 victory.
Barefoot explained Felton looked forward to the match-up because of the immense challenge Killion presented.
"Marcus really wanted to wrestle Caleb, and that was out of respect," the Sanderson coach said. "We knew he was their returning state qualifier, and he's a great wrestler."
The Spartans adhere to a philosophy that they will only improve by wrestling the best.
"We want to go against the best competition because ultimately, we want to get better," Barefoot said. "We want to win, go to states, and wrestle for state championships, and you're not going to do that until you wrestle kids like Caleb Killion."
However the coach reasoned a victory now doesn't carry the same weight as one in February and March.
"After the match, I told Marcus that he's going to see Caleb four or five more times, and it's not going to count for real until the fifth time," Barefoot said. "And most likely a lot will be on the line."
Felton recently earned the Spartans' Wrestler of the Week honors for his early-season work.
Besides Felton, Blane McElreath (130), Huntley Hughes (152) and Philip Price (189) took home victories, though fell short of earning the pin.
While his young team shined, Barefoot said Tassitino — one of just two seniors on the squad, and the lone returning state-qualifier — continues to grow and mature.
"Adam's learning that he can control the tempo of the match, and he can dominate the wrestlers that he is facing," he said."
Wakefield heavyweight Devan Caldwell records the Wolverines' first pin of the match Dec. 9
The Wolverines are equally as young as the Spartans this season, and had several fresh faces in its lineup Wednesday.
As the youngsters took their lumps, it was Wakefield's more experienced wrestler who got the squad on the board. Jeff Fisher (125) and Eric White (160) won their respective matches, 8-3 and 10-4, but the Wolverines didn't get their first pin until the second-to-last bout.
In the heavyweight match-up, sophomore Devan Caldwell scored a second-period pin and 103-pounder Zach Koehler ended the night with his own second-period pin, giving Wakefield a late lift.
"Devan has the size to do very well," said Wakefield had coach Jason Booser. "And Zach, he's tough. He's 8-2 for us right now and he works very hard for us."
Booser praised 171-pounder Malik McKinnon, who dropped a close match 6-4 to Sanderson's Jesus Ruiz.
"Malik wrestled well for the first two periods, and that kid he wrestled as tough," the coach said. "But I think if Malik sees him again, if he wants it, he has the ability to pull out the win."
But overall, Booser couldn't hide his disappointment in the Wolverines' early-season results.
"Hats off to Sanderson because they really wanted the win," he said. "But I'm not happy with that performance at all. We were sloppy. They're good. And they might be better than us, but not by what the score was tonight."
Sanderson and Wakefield both compete in the all-day Wolverine Challenge Saturday.
