BENNINGTON — The Patriots welcomed Rhode Island powerhouse Bishop Hendricken into Kates Gym for a wrestling dual Friday night for Mount Anthony’s senior night.
Three MAU seniors wrestled to wins, but it was Bishop Hendricken walking away with a 45-30 victory.
Aaron Johnson picked up MAU’s first win in the third match of the night. After back-to-back BH pins, the visitors jumped out to a 12-0 advantage. Johnson, who was slated to compete at either 170 or 182 ended up sliding into the former, against Bishop Hendricken’s Caleb Sclama. MAU coach Frank Gaudette said the decision to wrestle Johnson at that weight was based on MAU digging itself into a 12-0 hole early.
The first 45 seconds of the match were a stalemate. Then, Johnson earned a takedown to grab a 2-0 lead he took into the second round. Johnson started on top in round two, but Sclama was able to secure a reversal 35 seconds in to even things at 2-2. Johnson worked for the escape 30 seconds later, finally breaking free of Sclama’s clasp to retake the lead.
Johnson earned two more points early in round 3 before getting Scalma on his back with less than 30 seconds left on the edge of the mat, securing a pin with 24.5 seconds remaining.
Bishop Hendricken pinned the next five Patriots to take a commanding 42-6 lead. Then, Duncan Herrington picked up a win via a forfeit at 113, and the Patriots wrestled hard the rest of the match.
The 120 dual between MAU’s Logan Davis and BH’s Seth McGrew needed extra time to decide a winner. Tied 2-2 in overtime, McGrew grabbed the win with 28.4 seconds left.
Next came MAU senior Alex Perez at 126 against Braydon Wilding. Perez worked back from a 4-1 deficit in the first round to grab a 8-6 victory on his senior night.
Fellow senior Alex Brown grabbed a Patriots win in the final match of the night at 145. Brown and BH’s Matthew Pappas were tied 5-5 entering round 3, which did not feature any points. Brown grabbed the win 20 seconds into overtime.
Tyler Monick also grabbed a MAU win at 132, pinning Logan Ross with 5 seconds remaining in round 1. In the very next match, 138, Asa Reis also secured a first round pin for the Patriots, defeating BH’s Carson Dean in exactly one minute of action.
Saturday, the Patriots remained inside Kates for some more duals. MAU defeated Keene, New Hampshire 59-20, Cumberland, Rhode Island 46-22 and Essex 59-20.