Tigers pin down Titans in only home meet

Titans lose a close meet against Evansville Memorial

Junior+Jack+Rose+looks+up+at+the+clock+to+see+how+many+seconds+he+has+left+to+go.+Rose+won+by+a+tech+fall%2C+scoring+five+points+for+the+Titans.

Kylin Eads

Junior Jack Rose looks up at the clock to see how many seconds he has left to go. Rose won by a tech fall, scoring five points for the Titans.

On Tuesday, January 10, the Evansville Memorial Tigers traveled 30 minutes north to take on the Gibson Southern Titans in a dual wrestling matchup. The Titans looked to capture a home victory as this would be the first and last time they wrestle at home for the 2022-2023 wrestling season. 

The match began with Titan’s freshman wrestler Blake Ulm being pinned in the first period. Ulm competed in the heavyweight class. Titan sophomore Jacob Stallsmith was also pinned in the first period by his opponent. Stallsmith competed in the 106-pound weight class for the Titans. 

The Titans lone victories on the night came from the brother duo of sophomore Beau Rose and junior Jack Rose.

Beau Rose competed in the 170-pound weight class, in which he pinned his opposing 170-pounder to help the Titans out in the scoring column.

Sophomore Beau Rose looks to the ref as he gets his opponent into position for the pin. (Provided)

“I took an early lead in the first period, and I had the choice of being on top at the start of the second period, and I pancaked my opponent to finally take home the victory by way of pin,” Beau Rose said. 

Jack Rose competed in the 160-pound weight class, in which he beat his opponent by way of a technical fall. His duel went back and forth with many different scramble positions, and Jack Rose had him on the ropes with an almost pin down. His victory helped contribute much-needed points to the Titans point total, as it was a close matchup with the Tigers thus far.

Freshman Keaton Richardville was in a very close battle in the 182-pound weight class, the final match of the evening. Richardville scored the first points in the match with a takedown. From that point on, it featured a back-and-forth swing for the rest of the matchup. Ultimately, Richardville lost by decision, giving Memorial the win.

Near the end of his match, freshman Keaton Richardville shows the signs of being fatigued. He went three rounds, losing by decision. (Provided)

“The meet overall was a bit of a disappointment because it was really close, and we lost,” Jack Rose said. “I was happy with my match, as I tech falled my opponent pretty easily, and the match as a whole was very efficient for my tactics and strategy.” 

The Titans also had junior Lucas Emery competing in the 126-pound weight class. He made it to the third period, where he lost by pin. Senior Colin Sokeland, the team’s lone senior, also lost in the third period by way of the pin against his 152-pound opponent. Sophomore Max Wahl won by forfeit in his 138-pound weight class, as did freshmen Jax Coleman and Brody Klem.

I thought there were definitely some positives with how we wrestled, but as a whole, we could have competed better,” assistant coach Josh Elepers said. “I think that our guys could have done better trying to get to their offense, and it seemed like we let them control the pace of the match.”

The Titans ended up just short of taking down the Tigers, as they lost 37-35. The Titans return to the mats on Saturday, January 14 at the Double Dual at Evansville North, where they look to come back to Gibson County with a victory.