Taylorville falls to Clinton and Monticello despite a tough outing

Lucas Domonousky Breeze-Courier Sports Writer

TAYLORVILLE —The Taylorville wrestling team face off against Clinton and Monticello in the home opening wrestling meet in the west gym on Thursday. The Tornadoes numbers did not fair well against the two teams as far as points go. They fell to both. Clinton, 18-55 and Monticello, 57-20. Though the results prove the Taylorville loss team as a whole wrestled very tough. Just take it from Head Coach Jake Smothers. “It is hard to judge us by the scores.” says Smothers. “I thought we wrestled really tough and got better. Clinton and Monticello have always been some of the toughest 1A schools in the state.”

Senior captain Gage Rusher won both of his matches through good wrist control and discipline. He went on to pin each of his opponents with time still left in the first round. “I worked my moves and
did what i had to do to get the win.” The senior leader mentioned after his first match of the night. Gage is aiming high for his 100th career win this season. He is going to have to stay locked in all season long to earn the 30 wins to complete the accomplishment but the poised wrestler is confident he can get it done. “I think I can do it but it’s going to be tough. It’s going to be a grind.”

William Blue went the distance in both of his matches but could not seem to get the W in either, losing due to lack of points in both. This is Blue’s third year wrestling and he’s gained some big expectations. The junior was able to qualify for state last season.

Landon Molina went 1-2 on the night. The junior went the distance but ended up losing his first match then won by pin in the second.

“This is a sport where you can be the best athlete and have good technique but IQ comes into play in those tight matches.” Head Coach Smothers final analysis on Thursday night’s match was a reminder that talent and athleticism can only take you so far in wrestling.