Kapaun ekes out wrestling win over South
Kapaun Mount Carmel senior Luke Bean made a name for himself during football season running through tacklers.
Thursday night, he only had to run through one opponent to clinch a City League wrestling dual.
At 220 pounds, Bean pinned South's Seth Birkes with seven seconds left in the first period, clinching a 36-35 triumph at Kapaun.
"Oh yeah, he's an animal," South coach Mike Atlee said of Bean. "He's a football player who's a wrestler."
Bean said his strategy was to stay aggressive throughout.
"I like to go out and be physical right off the bat, kind of set the tempo a little bit," Bean said. "I like to dictate the pace of the match, so I kind of wrestle how I want to and not how they do."
Bean's victory stopped a run of South victories at 170, 182 and 195 pounds.
"Our kids are getting better, and that's what you want this time of year," Atlee said. "You don't have a lot of time to think about things — you've just got to regroup and go.
"We had to get as many points out of our heavier guys as they got out of their lighter guys, and tonight it didn't happen."
South's Dillon Young won with a pin at 285, but the Titans (1-1, 1-1) fell just short.
"With Luke at 220, 90 percent of the time he's good for six (points) for us," Kapaun coach Tim Dryden said.
South's 40-30 victory last Thursday over defending Class 6A champion Heights was a factor, Bean said.
"It showed that they were a tough team and we needed to come out with our A game and get the win," he said.
Kapaun (2-0, 2-0) started strong, winning with pins at 106, 113 and 126, then winning with a technical fall at 132 that pushed the Crusaders' lead to 23-5.
Trailing 30-14 heading into the 170 match, South won three straight, pulling to within 30-29 and setting the stage for Bean.
South's 160-pounder, Dakota Gregg, missed the match because of a slight separated shoulder.
106—Egan, KMC, pinned Howard, 1:02; 113— Howell, KMC, pinned Foxworthy, 0:17; 120— Tiger, S, tech. fall Mills, 19-2; 126— Burrus, KMC, pinned R. Tipton, 0:37; 132— Maki, KMC, tech. fall Warden, 22-5; 138— Wescoat, S, def. Friling, 7-3; 145— Webber, S, pinned Tolberd, 0:33; 152— Schutz, KMC, major dec. Collins, 20-10; 160— Brittan, KMC, def. Boyd, 16-9; 170— Payne, S, pinned Hand, 0:15; 182— D. Tipton, S, def. Heiland, 3-2; 195— Adams, S, pinned Harp, 2:10; 220— Bean, KMC, pinned Birkes, 1:53; 285— Young, S, pinned LaFluer, 0:43.