photo by: Kim North

John Marshall’s Milo Ward has control of Barnesville’s Easton Stephen during their 106-pound bout Wednesday night during dual meet action inside ‘The Greenhouse’ at Barnesville High School. Ward prevailed, 9-2, but the Monarchs fell to the Shamrocks, 44-18.

BARNESVILLE – Wednesday night’s dual high school wrestling match between visiting John Marshall and Barnesville inside ‘The Greenhouse’ was more like a tuneup for more important events on Saturday.

The battle-tested Shamrocks posted a 44-18 decision over the Monarchs as they prepped for the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Regional Duals which they will host. John Marshall, meanwhile, will be competing in the Division I West Virginia High School Coaches Association State Duals at the state fairgrounds in Fairlea.

“I talked with the team beforehand and told them this (dual) was important, and we never overlook anyone, but Saturday is really important,” Barnesville head coach Jayson Stephen said. “We need to learn from our mistakes tonight and try to fix them for Saturday because if we make the same mistakes then, we’ll be in real trouble.”

Barnesville won nine of the 14 bouts, with five coming by pin, three by decision and one by technical fall.

“We were looking to get some good competition and we knew we would get that from Barnesville tonight,” John Marshall head coach Ryan Asbury said. “The kids battled hard tonight and I was pleased with our effort.”

The Monarchs took a 3-0 lead when freshman Milo Ward earned a 9-2 decision over Easton Stephen by collecting a takedown in each period. However, the Shamrocks reeled off three straight wins and five in the next six matches to take a 23-6 lead and never looked back.

“We lost some close matches there in the middle,” Asbury said. “We won a tough match at 106, but, unfortunately, our 113-pounder (Mason Skvarka) is still out right now and our backup (Ely Durrah) went in there and battled hard. Nathan wrestled tough and better than he did in the recent OVAC Ron Mauck Tournament and Clayton nearly pulled off a late win.”

Freshman Hoyt Hartshorn got the Shamrocks rolling with a 17-2 technical fall at 113 and classmate Jaxon Aberegg followed with a 10-3 nod at 120. In a match Asbury was referring to, Barnesville’s Bentley Stephen built a seeming;y comfortable, 12-0, advantage over Clayton Pyles-Dugas at 126, but found himself close to being pinned as the match ended 12-7.

John Marshall broke the string of losses when Mikey Logsdon posted a 4-1 decision at 132.

However, the Shamrocks were just getting started as they claimed the next three matches – two by falls – in storming to an insurmountable, 26-6, advantage. Freshman Ryder King jump-started the surge with a pin in 2:22 at 138, while junior Colt Carpenter followed with a 54-second fall at 144. Brayden Trigg, another junior, trailed 6-2 before rallying for a 10-8 nod at 150.

John Marshall won two consecutive bouts to pull to within 32-18 on an 11-5 decision from Jakob Minor at 157 and an 8-0 major decision by Kai Johnson at 165, but Barnesville finished strong, taking three of the final four bouts – all by pins.

Hines Ford, the lone senior on the Shamrocks roster, recorded a 21-second fall at 175 before John Marshall’s JT Morris scored a 19-3 technical fall at 190. The Shamrocks received a 16-second pin from junior Christien Hannahs at 215 and a fall from freshman Zachary Foster in 4:58 to seal the deal.

“It was a good night for us, but like I said, we have some mistakes to correct,” Coach Stephen said.