By CHUCK MARTINEZ

martinez@crescent-news.com

In a game of rivalry roulette, getting six points is key and having the ammunition to finish the job is crucial.

In a Saturday wrestling matinee, the Napoleon Wildcats invaded the Defiance High School "Dawg Pound" and went home with a narrow 39-35 victory.

"We knew this was going to be a big one," admitted DHS mentor Josh Neilson about the showdown against the school's biggest rival. "Napoleon always brings a good team, they've got some studs so we knew we'd really have to wrestle well to beat them."

The luck of the draw put the Bulldogs right in the Wildcats' wheelhouse for the first six bouts.

With action getting underway at 160, the Wildcats picked up a pair of pins, 12 more points thanks to forfeits and a major decision to give themselves a comfortable 28-6 edge heading into the 112-pound match.

"We started out for the most part from the strength of our lineup," pointed out Napoleon mentor Jason Seiler. "And we were able to jump out to a lead because of that, but we still knew it was going to come down to the middleweights."

But the DHS little big guns at 112, 119 and 125 weren't about to let the Bulldogs go down without a fight.

At 112, Napoleon's Brandt Ward jumped up from 103 to take on undefeated B.J. Miller. Miller jumped out to a quick 8-0 first-period lead and added to it in the next two minutes. With just over a minute left in the second stanza, Miller turned Ward for the third time and finished Ward off with his signature scissors, as Ward became victim No. 31.

Defiance junior Jordan Gonzales followed at 119 with a takedown session that netted him a 22-5 technical-fall victory and another five team points for Defiance.

DHS senior Zach Hurst then put up six points of his own before a Napoleon void at 130 gave Defiance it's first lead, 29-28.

Cody Manon (135) and Terry Wagenhauser (145) sandwiched a pair of DHS decisions between a Napoleon pin at 140 to give DHS a 35-33 lead.

At 140, Tim Norden's pin was the fastest fall of the night.

Norden stacked up Kyle Esckilsen and walked away a mere 15 seconds later with another Napoleon fall.

With one weightclass (152) left, Defiance was in the lead, but as has been the case for Defiance all season, a void was unavoidable.

Defiance sophomore Clay Roehrig has been bed-ridden with the flu and junior Desmond Yarnell is sidelined with a skin malady giving Neilson two missing Bulldogs that left a vacancy at 152, where the Wildcats gladly took the six points and the victory.

"It always seems to come down to the voids," said Neilson. "It hurt us with Desmond out, he can't come back until tomorrow, and Clay's been out for a week after he was wrestling hot. That's just bad luck on our part I guess to have two of our better wrestlers like that are not able to help us. It hurts."

Early on, Ryan Pahl's 12-1 decision and back-to-back forfeits put Defiance in the hole early, 16-0.

At 215, Napoleon senior Robert Sanchez continued his pinning ways by backing his 14th straight and 24th opponent this season with a first-period fall that gave Napoleon a 22-0 edge. Despite pushing his season record to 33-2, the win for Sanchez was bitter-sweet.

"It feels really good to get the win," said Sanchez. "But it's also a little sad, because it's my senior year. I wouldn't mind being able to come back and do this all again."

Defiance heavyweight Nolan Bachelor stopped the Napoleon surge with the first of three Defiance racks with a 39-second fall to put Defiance on the board, 22-6.

But Napoleon's Zach Walker was quick to counter at 103.

Walker came out strong in the first period against Zac Jimenez and built a 6-0 first period lead via a takedown and two turns. As the second period was winding down, Walker ended it with a pin and another six for Napoleon.

The stick was not only the first of Walker's varsity career, but also provided him with his first varsity victory. And with Defiance's lightweights ready to make it a match, Walker's six points were key to Napoleon bringing home a victory.

"That's Zack's first varsity win," explained Seiler. "He's been close several times, but couldn't pull it off. That was a big win for us though, if he gets pinned or caught that's a 12-point swing, so that was big."

Napoleon finishes off the regular season next week with a tough road trip for a triangular against Sandusky St. Mary's and Oregon Clay while the Bulldogs finish their regular season on Thursday when they host the Wildcats of Kenton.

SUMMARY

103 - Zach Walker (N) pinned Zac Jimenez, 3:51; 112 - B.J. Miller (D) pinned Brandt Ward, 2:55; 119 - Jordan Gonzales (D) tech fall Dale Hancock, 22-5; 125 - Zach Hurst (D) pinned Zach Morris, 5:15; 130 - Cory Carnahan (D) won by forfeit; 135 - Cody Manon (D) dec. Jeb Brink, 6-1; 140 - Tim Norden (N) pinned Kyle Esckilsen, :15; 145 - Terry Wagenhauser (D) dec. Derek Vocke, 6-0; 152 - Lee Drummond (N) won by forfeit; 160 - Ryan Pahl (N) major dec. Pat Millen, 12-1; 171 - Jason Brown (N) won by forfeit; 189 - Cody Bloom (N) won by forfeit; 215 - Robert Sanchez (N) pinned Glenn Ward, :51; 285 - Nolan Bachelor (D) pinned Anthony Sager, :39.