Lange’s pin lifts Van Wert past Shawnee

Van Wert independent sports/submitted information

It went down to the final match of the night, and sophomore Ben Lange was the hero in Van Wert’s  exciting come from behind 31-30 wrestling win over Western Buckeye League foe Shawnee on Thursday.

The match started with the 126 pound weight class, where Van Wert senior Josh Dorsch scored a bonus point with a major decision (12-1) over Dylan Kohlhorst.

After a double forfeit at 132, Van Wert picked up 12 team points when sophomore Gabe Steyer (138) pinned Owen Burgess in 1:10 and Isaiah Bretz (145) pinned Trent Fairburn in 4:15.

Shawnee captured the next three matches to pull within one, 16-15. Cain Bentz defeated Ryan Pratt (152) 9-4, Ethan Anderson pinned Malachi Battle (160) in 4:22 and Clay Adlesh pinned Dale Hammons in 2:19.

Senior Trevor Spridgeon (182) used a last second reversal to beat Howie Perkins, then a double forfeit occurred in the 195 pound weight class, followed by junior Lloyd Eutsler’s (220) pin of Adam Lewis in 2:19 to increase Van Wert’s team lead to 25-15.

The Indians won the next two matches by forfeit (285 and 106) before Cory Beach defeated Killian Suddith 10-4 to stretch Shawnee’s advantage to 30-25.

That set the stage for Lange. In the final match of the night, the 120 pound sophomore pinned Chris Paysen in 1:19 to secure the win for the Cougars. It was the second straight time Van Wert rallied to defeat a Western Buckeye League opponent.

The Cougars will travel to Kenton next Thursday before participating in the Wapakoneta Invitational two days later.