Staff writer
Marion High School sophomore wrestler Brody Carroll had brought the regional championship match of the 130-pound weight class to overtime Saturday at Beloit by being a patient, intelligent wrestler.
Adrian Lange of Lyons defeated Carroll, 5-3, earlier in the season at Halstead. Carroll gave up a takedown when that matched was knotted at zero at the end of the first round. Lange’s position ahead of Carroll in the state rankings had been secure ever since.
The wrestlers stood for much of the first round, wrists tied up around each other’s necks. Periodically, one wrestler would attempt to duck and grab the others’ legs, to no avail as the other would scramble to back up and block his opponent’s advances by squaring his shoulders.
“I knew it would be hard to get a shot in on him,” Carroll said.
The score tied at zero, Carroll started in the down position. After a minute of maneuvering under Lange’s weight, Carroll was able to grab Lange’s hands, force them away from his torso, and wriggle free from Lange’s grip.
“It was important to get the first lead,” Carroll said. “I knew it would be a close match.”
Now tasked with trying to hold Lange face down on the mat, Carroll surrendered an escape early in the third round. The clock gradually ticked away with neither grappler wanting to give up the winning points late in the round. Lange was the aggressor, going for more shots at Carroll’s legs, but Carroll blocked every attack.
Early into the 1-minute overtime round, Lange continued his aggressive attack but Carroll was able to counter. Lange lunged for Carroll’s legs and gripped the Marion wrestler’s thighs. Using his upper body strength and leverage, Carroll ducked under Lange’s left arm to swing around Lange’s back and force him face down into the mat.
“He started pushing,” Carroll said of his final move. “I knew I should duck under him.”
With the sudden death takedown, Carroll leapt to his feet in victory, his arms above his head as he ran a short lap around the mat.
“Brody wrestled how he needed to to beat that kid,” coach Chad Adkins said. “We’d wrestled him once before and tried to do too much. We thought it would come down to a situation like that. The goal was to make him make the mistake.”
Carroll was the second Marion wrestler of the day to earn a regional championship. Senior Randy Regnier had bested Daniel Melcher of Herington, 6-3, in the previous match in the 125-pound weight class.
Showing the stoicism that has allowed Regnier to amass a 35-3 record, Regnier never trailed in the match. He took a 4-1 lead in first round with two takedowns, including one where Regnier grabbed Melcher’s right leg and forced the Herington wrestler to fall off balance to the mat.
With Melcher mounting a comeback on a reverse in the second round, the match was in doubt, not that there was any visible sense of urgency on Regnier’s face. In the middle of the third round, Regnier scored another takedown and had Melcher’s back to the mat for a near pin.
Adkins said the match was as close as it was because Regnier and Melcher had met several times throughout the year.
“They know what you’re going to do,” Adkins said. “(Melcher) is talented enough to react to it.”
Even with the run of recent success of the wrestling program, this is the first year that Marion has had two regional champions. As two of the top four seeds at Hays next week, Adkins said Regnier and Carroll have a chance to place in the top four.
“They’ve got their heads in the right place,” Adkins said.
While Regnier is attempting to cap his senior season at state, Carroll is looking to add to a 37-4 sophomore campaign.
“It’s a nice feeling to know you have a kid who’s that talented already,” Adkins said.
Junior Cole Lewman lost 10-6 in the consolation semifinal of the 140-pound class to Chance Demel of Hoisington.
Senior Galen Funk was pinned by Aaron Bina of Hillsboro in the consolation semifinal of the 160-pound class.
Senior Andy Shipman lost in the consolation semifinal of the 145-pound class to Matt Schneider of Phillipsburg, the No. 1 seed in the weight class.
Each wrestler was one win away from punching a state ticket.
“For overall talent we’ve had, we’ve overachieved,” Adkins said. “Unfortunately for Galen and Andy, it was their last chance.”