Malta grapplers at Old Gym, Glasgow

The Malta Mustangs wrestling team saw plenty of action last week, as the group hosted a Dual event with the Fairfield and Simms teams at the Old Gym and then traveled to Glasgow for action on Friday and Saturday.

“It was a lot of fun,” Malta wrestling Coach Steve French said after the Dual event in Malta. “We had some great effort and there was a lot of improvement.”

The Old Gym holds a lot of memories for French, who wrestled and coached at the venue prior to the old Malta High School burning down in the winter of 1995.

“It’s fun to look up in the crowd and see familiar faces, maybe the are a little older, but so am I,” French said with a laugh. “But it was a lot of fun to be a part of.”

The Mustangs put on quite the show that night, winning 12 of their 22 matches, led by senior Callan Mears who went 3-0 at the event Mears continued winning throughout the weekend and racked up a 10-0 record last week.

“I wrestled really good,” Callan said. “My coaches were telling me to get after it with high intensity and just wrestle.”

He won the 160 class in the Glasgow tournament as was named Malta’s wrestler of the Week.

“The improvement from week one to week two has been unbelievable,” Coach French said. “He took four losses last week. He is a tough kid and took that to heart. He practiced hard, was a great captain and I am just very excited about his performance tonight.”

Cameron Mikesell went 7-3 last weekend and despite going 0-2 last Thursday, he turned things around in Glasgow going 4-0 on Friday at the mixer and 3-1 on Saturday at the Scottie Tournament.

Mears’ younger brother Camryn had the third-highest win percentage of the week, going 7-4. During the Malta event, Callan could be seen enthusiastic cheering his brother on.

“It’s great,” Callan said. “He is always in the room, trying to get better and it shows. He is off to a great start this year.”

Coach French was impressed by the way his team performed at the Old Gym, but when asked about a wrestler that had shown him improvement from the first to the second week, he had his sights on Dre Oshio, a 205-pound freshman that went 2-1 in Malta.

“With Dre Oshio, I don’t know what to expect when he is out there,” Coach French said. “And that’s a good thing because neither does his opponents. He has got a lot of natural, crazy body positions that he just throws at us. It’s always going to be fun when he wrestles I guarantee you that.”

Oshio’s only loss that night came by the hands of heavyweight Thomas Troy of Fairfield, who was over 6’2” and was probably on the higher end of 285.

“I think I did pretty well,” Oshio said. “That last kid was kind of a big hoss, but those first two kids, I can wrestle again pretty easy.”

Oshio had previously wrestled in the Old Gym throughout his elementary and junior high years, and Thursday was his first time as a high schooler.

“It’s great to win here and it kind of stinks when you lose but you have to take it as it comes,” Oshio said. “It’s definitely nice to have the home-field advantage.”

Shane Soul would not be denied a victory on Thursday, as he was pitted against Fairfield’s Bean Peace. Soul had previously lost a match to Michael Leach of Sims, and against Peace, Soul came out aggressive and won.

“That was Shane’s first win of the year, which isn’t indicative of his ability, but it was really nice to see him come back and win decisively,” Coach French said.

During the Glasgow Scottie Invitational on Saturday, December 14, Malta placed eighth among all 27 teams with 55 points. The event was won by Sidney, who scored 311 points, Custer was second with 162.5, Dawson County was third with 130.

As far as placers go, Callan Mears was first in the 160 weight class. Cameron Mikesell (8-3) was fourth in the 120 weight class, and Camryn Mears was seventh in the 145 weight class.

Mikesell had the match of the week, in his 9-6 win over Sidney’s Colby Hutzenbiler. Mikesell fell behind 0-5, against Hutzenbiler, who had beaten Mikesell the day before, but Mike Turner the tide and won their second match, sending Mikesell to the semifinal match in Glasgow.

Oshio had a 15-second pin, for the team’s quick pin of the week.

The weekly records of the wrestlers are Cal. Mears 10-0, Mikesell 7-3, Cam. Mears 7-4, Kendall Moore 4-5, Tye Jones 4-5, Spencer Gibbs 4-7, Oshio 4-7, Soul 3-5, and Colt French 2-7.

The Mustangs now head to CMR Holiday Classic for one of the largest All-Class Tournaments across the state. The event will host 64 man brackets for each weight class and is set to start on Friday, December 20 and conclude on Saturday, December 21.