By Ashley Ruden
Mount Vernon took on the Solon Spartans and the Benton Bobcats Jan. 30 in the senior’s last home team dual. Eleven seniors will be leaving this year. Not only was it senior night, but it was a night to remember.
Senior Jacob Steele, the student assistant coach, wrestled his last match against Coach Greg Murphy. Steele had pinned Murphy late in the second period. The crowd went wild; everyone from everywhere was on their feet cheering and clapping for Jacob.
Jacob jumped up and down in excitement. “It felt really good to win. It was exciting,” he said.
“We knew Jacob was pretty good and really wanted him to showcase his talents in a real match,” said coach Kyle Jaspers.
This year, Jacob did not take a test required by IHSAA rules tocompete in a high school match. “Knowing this, Coach Murphy and myself said that we should have him wrestle an exhibition match against one of the coaches,” said Mr. Jaspers.
Not only was senior night exciting, but as senior Eric Dunford said, “It’s bittersweet.” It is difficult ending a sporting career. The Mustangs first wrestled the Bobcats and dominated them with an outcome of 64 to 10.
Up next were the Solon Spartans. This was not an easy win. After losing the first three matches, Mount Vernon’s Jake Durgin won by fall over Joe Loven of Solon.
The Mustangs started to make a comeback and it came down to the last match. Mount Vernon’s Noah Dahlstrom wrestled Trevor Nelson of Solon at 152. Noah fell to Nelson in overtime 3-4, making the team scores Mount Vernon 30, Solon 28. Meanwhile Mount Vernon’s Trey Ryan wins by fall over Solon’s Mitch Silberstein making the final team score, Mount Vernon 36, Solon 28.
Assistant coach Aaron Truitt said, “This senior class has done a lot for our program. 3 state medals, 5 state tournaments, 54 dual meet wins and 500 matches won.”
Watch the video of the match posted by Shea Stamp:
