St. Helens wins two bouts and others close in home meet

The St. Helens High wrestling team had a much improved performance against Sandy on Thursday night than they had a week earlier versus Sherwood.

The team picked up pins from Andrew Duggan and Jacob Cottman, plus had some matches that went to a close decision.

The Lions were short-handed against Sherwood and didn’t win a match.

While the Lions lost to Sandy 64-12, their performance was much more competitive and they had more wrestlers return to the line-up. Dustin Ford lost a hard-fought match at 195 pounds. He was within a point but gave up a takedown in the closing seconds. He would have won if he had gotten the takedown. Ford picked up one point from an illegal hold and another for unsportsmanlike conduct when the other wrestler connected on a punch.

The Lions are now focused on the district wrestling tournament this coming Friday and Saturday at Sandy. The top four wrestlers in each class advance to state.

Sandy 64, St. Helens 12

106—Kyle Grahn (Sa) won by ff.; 113—Richie Rich (Sa) pinned Cedric Walters (SH), :28; 120—Dakota Peterson (Sa) major dec. Jose Silva (SH), 15-2; 126—Jon Morrell (Sa) dec. Jesse Vanderwall (SH), 7-1; 132—Andrew Duggan (SH) pinned Steven Patton (Sa), 4:46; 138—Jacob Cottman (SH) pinned Julio Corona (Sa), 3:51; 145—Rhett Schilperoot (Sa) pinned Ryen Brown (SH), 3:38; 152—Tyler White (Sa) pinned Jon Luttrell (SH), 1:27; 160—C.J. McKinnis (Sa) won by ff.; 170—Devin White (Sa) won by ff.; 182—Kyle Bateman (Sa) won by ff.; 195—Jeremy Funk (Sa) dec. Dustin Ford (SH), 7-4; 220—Carlos Deker (Sa) won by ff.; 285—Mike Preist (Sa) won by ff.