BENTON – The Marion Wildcat Wrestling squad won the meet on Thursday night with the Benton Ranger Wrestling team by a lopsided score of 55-21, but as both of the Benton coaches said tonight, for them it wasn’t about a team victory or team accomplishments but about honoring the seniors and attaining individual accolades that mattered most. "Tonight's about our seniors, and their hard work, and honoring them and their families." said assistant Benton wrestling coach Phil McMahon.
"Our goal is to have places in the state tournament." said McMahon.
It was Senior Night at the east gym, as a packed audience paid tribute to some of the best talent to ever step foot on a Benton Ranger wrestling mat. Before the meet commenced several Benton seniors were honored beside their parents and fellow teammates, including Peyton Smith who, it was announced now has the second most wins of any wrestlers in Benton Ranger history. Other senior Ranger wrestlers honored included Matt Krug and Nick Goffinet.
The Wildcats won the first three matches at 106, 113, and 120 via forfeit due to Benton not having a full squad. The first official match was at 126 and saw Benton’s Andrew Martin lose to Marion’s Caleb Fishback via pinfall in the third period. The second bout at 132 was between Benton’s Oliver Davis, who toughed out a busted nose over three tough periods, and won via a hard-fought pinfall victory over a game Rohan Cook.
At 138 Benton's Daniel Martin beat Drew Herrmann 14-3 in three periods. All-star Peyton Smith competed at 152 and won in the second period with a decisive pinfall victory moving him to 135 career victories. Other Benton victories included a victory in the 170 pound weight division by Matt Krug who dispensed of his Marion opponent with a quick pinfall in 1:54 of the first period.
“Tonight was a good match. I always like wrestling Marion, it’s always fun. Season wise, I’m just ready to go to state,” said Peyton Smith as the brand new wrestling mat that the school just purchased in honor of the Seniors was being rolled up in the east gym.
When asked about what it was like to know that he now sits in the number two all-time spot for wins for Benton, Peyton replied, “Yeah, I don’t think about it a lot, because it’s just a number, but it kind of is a big deal when you stop and think about considering all the alumni and they did. But it’s a real big honor to have all the wins that I do and have the people that we have on the mat to wrestle with.”
“We competed good, and fought hard, and went after it and our seniors got to show off. You know they put in a lot of hard work” said Benton’s head wrestling coach Duane Beane. “I’m proud of all of them. This is a tough sport. Not everybody can do it. If that weren’t the case, we’d have a room full of kids right now. Our boys wrestled hard. They all did a good job today.”
