Seniors lift Vandals in final home dual

VANDALIA – All four seniors made an impact in their final home dual, leading the Vandals to their seventh straight win, a 34-20 marathon decision against Class 3A O’Fallon and former Vandalia coach Glenn Exton.

Rodney Tedrick won a 6-5 decision at 138 pounds to start a string of seven straight victories that moved Vandalia from a 6-20 deficit to the 34-20 final.

Tyler Dagen picked up a critical pin at 152 pounds to put the Vandals ahead, and C.J. Runkel followed with a 13-11 overtime decision at 160 and Seth Purcell earned a 15-4 win at 170 pounds.

“Those guys are the ones who everybody has looked to all season,” said Vandalia coach Jason Clay. “It doesn’t surprise me, and I’m proud of them for coming out and performing.”

Junior Jake Stewart sealed the victory with a 2-1 win at 182, and sophomore Bobby Bradley looked improved in finishing off the night with a 4-0 win at 195.

The match started with the weaker half of Vandalia’s lineup, and O’Fallon took advantage, winning five of the first seven bouts.

The Vandals (24-5) didn’t allow that to hinder their performance, however, as O’Fallon earned only one pin and two major decisions in its five victories.

“I knew we might start in a hard spot, because of their lineup versus our lineup,” Clay said. “But I knew we would have the guys to finish with.

“I like to come from behind and chase them down,” he said. “We didn’t give up a lot of bonus points (in the beginning), and I like to see that.”

Tedrick took over in the eighth bout, and took Josh Schemp the full six minutes and then some.

A cut on Tedrick’s eyebrow opened twice and his nose bled, delaying the bout for blood several times.

It was one of three matches that had extended breaks for blood, which made the just varsity dual last nearly two hours and the entire evening take almost three.

“Rodney did a good job of fighting through the blood match,” Clay said. “Kids are fighting hard, so we have kids who are cut and have scrapes on their forehead.

“We have tough kids, and they have tough kids.”

Tedrick took an early lead with a takedown 16 seconds into the bout, but Schemp escaped and took down Tedrick with one second left in the first period.

In the second period, the match was tied up on a penalty point, and Tedrick took a 5-3 lead with a reversal 1:35 in.

Tedrick received another penalty in the third period, and Schemp earned an escape and penalty point, leaving Tedrick with a narrow 6-5 decision.

Junior Dalton Blankenship pinned O’Fallon’s Drew Wodecek in 51 seconds for the first big win for the Vandals.

Dagen followed with an impressive comeback in the next bout.

Nathan Lampe scored a reversal in the second period for the first points of the match, but Dagen quickly escaped and trailed 2-1 going to the third period.

In just seven seconds, he reversed Lampe’s hold and then turned him for a near-fall to take a 6-2 lead.

“He was down 2-1 going into the third, and he got a reversal and a near-fall,” Clay said. “You could see (Lampe) break a little bit.

“Tyler got in there with that (arm) bar, and turned him right away to pin him (in 5:03),” he said. “That was a huge position in the dual … when kids break, there’s that moment, and if you seize the moment, you can score bonus points.”

Both Dagen and Blankenship have pinned five of their last six opponents.

Runkel was entrenched in a tight battle with freshman Mason Hewitt at 160, scoring a big takedown at the buzzer in the second period to go ahead, 8-4.

In the third period, the plan was for Runkel to take down Hewitt and then let him back to his feet until the bout’s margin was enough for a major decision.

But Hewitt took down Runkel with 54 seconds left in the bout, and nearly pinned him.

The bout was stopped for blood with 19.1 seconds left and Hewitt ahead, 11-10, but Runkel got an escape point with 8.5 seconds remaining to tie the bout at 11.

He quickly secured the winning takedown in overtime.

“We were working for a major (decision), but C.J. got a little lazy,” Clay said. “That kid’s a freshman, and a good one.

“C.J. battled through it,” he said. “He got his one (point) in 19 seconds, and then, in overtime, got the takedown.”

Purcell followed with a 15-4 win against Kobey Bosworth.

He took an 8-0 lead into the third period and used reversals and near-falls to up his point total in the final two minutes.

“Seth started fast, and hung in there in the end,” Clay said. “He maybe worked too hard to pin the kid in the beginning, and then gassed himself out a little bit.”

Purcell’s win over Bosworth was his 35th of the season the 350th individual victory for the Vandals. He and Blankenship each have personal 15-bout winning streaks.

Wednesday, Jan. 29
Senior night
Vandalia 34
O’Fallon 20
•220 – Dakota Weymouth (O) def. Kolton Etcheson by fall at 1:57
•285 – Ian Marshall (O) def. Kendrick Woolsey, 10-9
•106 – Philpot (V) def. Alec Ziegler, 6-2
•113 – Chaston Womack (V) def. Caleb Carriel, 7-1
•120 – Jon Villagran (O) def. Ryne Lipsey, 11-3
•126 – Alex Williams (O) def. Luke Tessman, 13-8
•132 – Alex McLaughlin (O) def. Adam Palmer, 9-5
•138 – Tedrick (V) def. Schemp, 6-5
•145 – Blankenship (V) def. Wodecek by fall at 0:51
•152 – Dagen (V) def. Lampe by fall at 5:03
•160 – Runkel (V) def. Hewitt, 13-11
•170 – Purcell (V) def. Bosworth, 15-6
•182 – Stewart (V) def. Quin Preston, 2-1
•195 – Bradley (V) def. Austin Harding, 4-0
Record: 24-5
JV
•James Crawford lost, 8-6 (OT)
•Cody Phillips lost, 12-9
•Kolten Kaiser lost by fall at 1:35
•Errol Walker lost by fall at 5:17
•Nick Trible lost by fall at 1:06