In a heated match with his Piper opponent, senior Noah Van Foeken was doing everything he could to gain the upper hand.
Then, Van Foeken was finally able to get on top of his opponent, and as the referee blew his whistle, the gymnasium erupted in cheers. Van Foeken got the pin.
Van Foeken was relieved to get a win on senior night.
“I definitely feel like this was a long time coming,” Van Foeken said. “We’ve been working hard and just haven’t been quite where I want to this season, and it felt great to finally come out on top and do that for my team and for my coaches.”
The Cardinal wrestling teams went toe-to-toe in two competitive duels against Piper Monday night as the girls team won 35-24 and the boys team lost 39-38.
Like Van Foeken’s match, each bout between the boys team and Piper was a battle with five going the full three-round distance.
The Cardinals won four of these close matches, but Piper was able to secure more pin downs throughout the duel, which are worth more points. This turned out to be the difference.
“I feel like a couple of matches could have went a little better,” head coach Miles Cleveland said. “Everybody wrestled tough. There were some dumb mistakes that happened that could have maybe changed the outcome, but overall I think we did OK.”
The boys team got to celebrate their senior night as well. Senior Kevin Whitten reflected on what has been an up-and-down season.
“We as seniors have had a pretty good season,” Whitten said. “There’s been some matches I could have done better, we could have done better.”
Whitten also secured a win on senior night via an open weight class from Piper.
In comparison to the boys team, the girls team had a relatively quiet night. Many of the girls’ wins came from Piper having an open weight class.
Senior Phoebe Fletcher was able to get a win against her opponent with a pin down, however.
The girls team is coming off a sixth-place finish out of seven teams at their league meet last Wednesday. Cleveland said the team was not at full strength due to injuries and illness, so they were only able to take seven wrestlers.
Of those seven, however, six ended up medaling individually within their weight class. Junior Kyleigh Musick placed first in the 120-pound weight class.
“I do think they would have placed better had the others been there with them, but bringing home those six medals is really good,” Cleveland said.
Cleveland said he hopes the boys team can win some medals at their league meet Wednesday, too.
Van Foeken said his goal is to finish in the top three and have the team do well.
“Got to put in the work though, and got to see how we go,” Van Foeken said.
The boys team will wrestle in their league meet at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Bonner Springs. The girls team will compete in their regionals Saturday in Rossville.
Reach reporter Jack Denebeim at [email protected].
If you appreciate our sports coverage, please donate. Our newspaper depends on your donations to provide coverage of Eudora and continue providing local news.
To donate to support our community journalism, please go to this link: tinyurl.com/y4u7stxj
