Arlington grapplers score late to pull off upset of Marysville

At Arlington's senior night, a junior stole the spotlight.

By Travis Sherer • February 1, 2010 6:26 pm
Hunter Amundson takes control of opponent Brandon Blevins en route to a 4-1 victory at 125 pounds.
Hunter Amundson takes control of opponent Brandon Blevins en route to a 4-1 victory at 125 pounds.

ARLINGTON — At Arlington’s senior night, a junior stole the spotlight.

Eagles’ 171-pounder Hayden Love’s 10-0 victory against Cole Cushing earned Arlington the lead for good in a 30-24 Wesco North upset Jan. 29.

Holding a 2-0 lead in the third period, Love smothered Cushing’s attempt to spin out of a grapple to the ground. He then seized the opportunity to score eight straight points, exemplifying a meet where a number of Eagles scored late to win matches.

“I just wanted to put all my weight on him and bring him to the ground,” Love said.

The Eagles (7-4 overall, 5-3 Wesco North) completed an upset over the Tomahawks (15-2, 6-2) in a match that saw just a pair of pin falls.

“I don’t think this is the best we’ve wrestled this year, because we’ve beaten some good teams, but it’s up there,” said Eagles head coach Shaun Williams.

While Love got the attention for winning, Arlington’s seniors Chris Berg, Dustin Ward, Seth Henderson and Ben Torve combined for a 11 points, wrestling in their final home matches.

“It’s too bad we have to graduate them because we’re starting to build a culture and it’s the seniors that are getting everybody excited,” Williams said. “You saw it tonight, everybody was up on their feet to cheer their teammates on.”

The match began with Arlington rushing out to an 11-0 lead with a pin by Brady Quinton (215 pounds) and a 15-11 major decision credited to Torve, a heavyweight.

Marysville came back with 14 points in the following three matches before Arlington started to minimize points scored by keeping matches close and scoring in the end, starting with Hunter Amundson’s 4-1 at 125 pounds. From that point, Berg squeaked out a 3-1 win at 135 pounds, scoring all his points in the final minute. Cole Himmelspach held on to an early 4-1 lead through the second and third periods at 145 pounds and Blake McPherson’s 12-7 win at 160 pounds.

“We knew it was going to be a very close match,” said M-P coach Craig Iversen. “It was going to come down to bonus points and who got pins.”

Williams praised Amundson’s close victory and Chris Covey, who kept his opponent from scoring more than just a decision in a 16-9 losing effort.

“He has come a long way,” Williams said of Covey. “He’s been putting in the effort and doing all the things it takes to improve.”

Also receiving wins for the Eagles was Dustin Ward, who defeated M-P’s Marcus Haughian 8-1 at 152 pounds.