Vandal wrestlers go 2-1 at Saturday quad meet

Two days after giving coach Jason Clay his 100th career dual team win, the Vandalia wrestlers posted a 2-1 mark at a home quadrangular on Saturday, defeating Herrin and Oakwood, and falling to Leroy.

Clay’s milestone victory came last Thursday during a 73-6 thrashing of Hillsboro, which included pins by nine of the 12 Vandals who wrestled.

“It’s one of those things where we’ve had a lot of good kids,” Clay said. “They’ve put in a lot of time and work to improve as a program.”

The Vandals opened Saturday’s quad meet with a 70-12 win against Oakwood. Included in that win were three pins in less than a minute by freshman Dalton Blankenship (0:41), freshman Blake Cripe (0:54) and senior Dayin Godberson (0:37).

Senior Anthony Fladeland (1:08), freshman Adam Palmer (1:51), freshman Trenton Kinworthy (2:12) and Daniel Edwards (2:46) also recorded pins for Vandalia.

Sophomore Tyler Dagen earned a 17-4 major decision, and four Vandals got forfeit victories during the match.

The big win of the afternoon came in the second match, which saw Vandalia defeat Herrin, 55-21.

Cripe (1:25), Fladeland (2:43), sophomore C.J. Runkel (2:52) and Dagen (5:35) all had pins for the Vandals, and senior Levi Ulmer earned a technical fall, with a 22-5 margin in the second round.

He would be bothered by an injured ankle during the match, and he was visibly shaken physically in his third match of the day, a 7-6 loss to Leroy’s Bradley Simmons in a 220-pound bout.

Clay said he was pleased with many of the individual performances early in the day, saying the wrestlers’ techniques were strong.

Vandalia, however, would struggle early against Leroy – a veteran team with several returning state qualifiers – during a 62-9 loss.

Godberson got the team’s lone non-forfeit win, battling Caleb Wilson to a 3-1 decision. They wrestled to a stalemate in the first period, before Godberson earned an escape in the second period and a takedown in the third period.

“I was really impressed with how he wrestled and battled today,” Clay said.

Leroy is probably the best team the Vandals will see before the postseason, Clay said, and he is planning to use the break between Wednesday’s meet at Civic Memorial on Wednesday and the St. Thomas More Challenge on Dec. 29-30 to work on small technique issues.

In total, 16 different wrestlers took the mat for Vandalia on Saturday.

“We’re trying to get everyone in and adjusted,” Clay said. “We have some work to do on technique, and we are getting closer to being settled in on weight.”

Saturday, Dec. 10
vs. Leroy
Leroy 62
Vandalia 9
•Ryne Lipsey (106) lost by fall at 1:29
•Palmer (113) lost by fall at 3:26
•Leroy (120) won by forfeit
•Dagen (126) lost by fall at 0:46
•Jake Stewart (132) lost by fall at 0:47
•Blankenship (138) lost by fall at 1:25
•Runkel (145) lost, 14-6
•Cripe (152) lost, 9-4
•Edwards (160) lost by fall at 3:33
•Kinworthy (170) lost, 14-2
•Godberson (182) won, 3-1
•Gage Miles (195) won by forfeit
•Ulmer (220) lost, 7-6
•Fladeland (285) lost by fall at 3:23
Record: 4-1
vs. Herrin
Vandalia 55
Herrin 21
•Lipsey (106) won by forfeit
•Palmer (113) won by forfeit
•Herrin (120) won by forfeit
•Dagen (126) won by fall at 5:35
•Ben Davis (132) lost by fall at 2:33
•Blankenship (138) won, 12-0
•Runkel (145) won by fall at 2:52
•Cripe (152) won by fall at 1:25
•Todd Ashdown (160) won by forfeit
•Edwards (170) won, 11-0
•Godberson (182) lost, 3-1
•Ulmer (195) won by technical fall, 21-5
•Herrin (220) won by forfeit
•Fladeland (285) won by fall at 2:43
Record: 4-0
vs. Oakwood
Vandalia 70
Oakwood 12
•Lipsey (106) lost by fall at 0:53
•Palmer (113) won by fall at 1:51
•Oakwood (120) won by forfeit
•Dagen (126) won, 17-4
•Blankenship (132) won by fall at 0:41
•Brad Jenner (138) won by forfeit
•Runkel (145) won by forfeit
•Cripe (152) won by fall at 0:54
•Edwards (160) won by fall at 2:46
•Kinworthy (170) won by fall at 2:12
•Godberson (182) won by fall at 0:37
•Miles (195) won by forfeit
•Ulmer (220) won by forfeit
•Fladeland (285) won by fall at 1:08
Record: 3-0

Thursday, Dec. 8
vs. Hillsboro
Vandalia 73
Hillsboro 6
•Lipsey (106) won by fall at 0:50
•Palmer (113) won by fall at 5:02
•Hillsboro (120) won by forfeit
•Emily Miles (126) won by forfeit
•Dagen 132) won, 19-18
•Blankenship (138) won by fall at 5:51
•Runkel (145) won by fall at 2:30
•Cripe (152) won by fall at 3:59
•Edwards (160) won by fall at 3:40
•Kinworthy (170) won by fall at 3:58
•Godberson (182) won by fall at 5:05
•G. Miles (195) won by forfeit
•Ulmer (220) won, 20-6
•Fladeland (285) won by fall at 2:40
Record: 2-0