Mustangs win home dual

For the first time in a long time, Malta hosted an exhibition event at the Old Gym.

The first half of the event was scored as a dual as the Mustangs took on a team consisting of Fairfield and Simms wrestlers. Malta won the event 36-18.

Malta started the event with a clean sweep of the first four matches, as Malta sophomore Callan Mears was the first to pin his opponent, Simms' Darwyn Johnson by pinfall in the 132 class, putting Malta up 6-0.

At 138, Whitewater senior Trey Simanton was able to secure six more points, pinning Ethan Mischler of Simms by double-armbar.

"It feels good," Simanton said of winning the Dual event. "It's a good start to the season. Our team really came out and they wrestled pretty good for our first home dual."

It was Simanton's first action of the season.

"It feels good (to be back on the mats)," Simanton said. "I'm really excited for this year."

Fellow senior Kaden Moore of Malta, continued Malta's run, pinning Cole Stigmiller in the 145 class.

"It's pretty impressive that we get to see a lot of the younger guys step up and see what they are made of, I guess," Moore said. "Our team should be pretty good as long as we can get our guys to shape up."

Moore was asked which athletes stepped up that night.

"Probably the fact that our foreign exchange student really stepped up," Moore said.

Magnus Franzen, a student from Denmark, shocked the crowd as he was able to get an early takedown in an exhibition matchup.

Malta senior Ceaton Mears picked up a win in the 152 class pinning Fairfield's Dylan Kolste. Putting Malta up 24-0.

Malta was forced to forfeit the 160 weight, giving Fairfield and Simms their first six points of the evening.

Fairfield was able to pick up an 11-4 decision in the 170 class as Andres Lopez lost to Fairfield's Dylan Anderson. The score, Malta 24-9.

Neither team had a wrestler in the 182, so the event went to the 205 class, where Malta's Miles Bunk would face Orion McDonald and would lose a close 4-2 decision. The score, Malta 24-12.

Luke Lawless was able to get a pin with 50 seconds left in his match against Simms' Lane Hinderager. The score was 30-12.

"The key was trying not to get pinned," Lawless said. "Practice made it perfect."

Last season, Lawless went straight from football to wrestling but this year was different as he decided to forego football and jump straight into wrestling.

"I did a couple of workouts at home before the first practices and that did not prepare me for this season," Lawless said. "I tried to get ready for wrestling but football can't even get you ready for this."

Lawless hopes to be able to wrestle at 205 this season, while teammate Bunk will likely move to the 182 class.

Malta's Jay Nicholson would be pinned by Stephen Schultze of Fairfield, giving Fairfield their last points of the evening.

Colt French would be awarded the final points of the night for Malta, being that neither Fairfield or Simms would have anyone in the 120 class.

The team was without Travis Epperson in the 182 class and Frankiw Werk in the Heavyweight class.

The Dual and Exhibition event served as the first of four events that will be held in Malta this season.

The next event will be the Malta Duals and Mixer on Friday, January 26, 2018, followed by the Malta Invitational Tourney the following day. Malta will host the Northern B Divisional on Saturday, February 3, 2018.