Wrestlers take on Merino, Yuma

    In double dual competition at Merino Thursday, Dec. 14, Holyoke defeated Merino 30-27 and fell to Yuma 24-51.
    Overall, confidence is still being built, and coach Dusty McConnell said he looks forward to progressing through the season.
    
Holyoke 30, Merino 27
    While the score showed a victory for Holyoke against Merino, McConnell said Holyoke didn’t match up well with the weights of the Merino wrestlers. He bumped several wrestlers up a weight just to have a match.
    In the five matches that were actually wrestled, Holyoke won one when Andy Lopez pinned Peyton Nichols at 182 lbs.
    Luis Chafino (145 lbs.) lost a 0-4 decision to Remington Canfield but wrestled very well, according to McConnell. “While he lost the match, he built a lot of confidence in that he can beat the kid,” the coach added. Two days later, at the Wray tournament, Chafino battled to a mere one-point loss to Canfield.
    Bumping up a weight, Anthony Rojo (120 lbs.) was pinned by Matthew Frank, and Deacon Dittmer (160 lbs.) fell to Trent Elliott. Remington Hielscher was pinned by Charles Balderas at 126 lbs.
    Dragons earning team points by Merino forfeits were Jessy Mosqueda (106 lbs.), Miguel Soto (132 lbs.), Jesus Trejo (138 lbs.) and Antoni Martinez (195 lbs.). Merino’s Joseph Muniz gained forfeit points at 170 lbs.
    
Holyoke 24, Yuma 51
    Against Yuma, the Dragons gave up five matches to forfeits in open weight divisions where HHS had no wrestler, while Trejo was the only Dragon to win by forfeit.
    That made a huge difference in the outcome of the dual. In actual head-to-head matches, the Dragons were 4-4.

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