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Coldwater's TJ Gross, left, and Celina's Isaac Helmer battle for position during a 113-pound bout during Tuesday's dual match at the Fieldhouse.
CELINA - Keeping up its momentum, the Celina wrestling team had a dominating night in winning its Mercer County bragging rights match with Coldwater 59-15 in a busy night at the Fieldhouse that featured junior high and youth wrestling matches.
It's the seventh straight Bulldog win over the Cavaliers to retain the traveling trophy.
"It's always nice to defeat your county rival," said Celina coach James Miracle. "We expected this after Saturday (when Celina won the Bob Sielski Duals at Coldwater). "They're (Coldwater) young. … All in all, a good night. We got to recognize our seniors."
The first five matches ended via pinfall. Celina picked up the first two wins as Matt Eicher pinned Parker Seitz in 3:07 at 165 pounds. Wes Greber followed with a pin in 94 seconds over Landon Garcia. Coldwater got on the board at 190 as Collin Westgerdes pinned Brenner Hinkle in 81 seconds, but Isaac Posada got Celina's third pin of the night after putting Aiden Laux's shoulders to the mat in 94 seconds. Cash Patrick wrapped up the heavier weights, pinning Will Wehrkamp in 67 seconds at 285 pounds to give Celina a 24-6 lead.
Celina's Isaac Posada turns over Aiden Laux for a pin attempt during Tuesday's match at the Fiedlhouse.
With Coldwater voiding out at 106, Celina's Isaac Helmer moved up to 113 to face Coldwater's TJ Gross. Helmer led 3-2 after four minutes and was still up by the margin with under a minute remaining when Gross recorded a reversal and four near-fall points to go up 8-3. But in the final 10 seconds, Helmer scored a reversal of his own and put Gross in position long enough to score four back points of his own to secure the 9-8 decision.
Coldwater voided out at 120. At 126, Mason Homan pinned Aiden Norris with nine seconds remaining in the first period to push the Celina lead to 45-6. Ross Helmer added to the Bulldog win total at 132 with a 7-4 decision over Brent Heuing. Coldwater then voided out at 138. Aaren King followed at 144 with a 21-5 technical fall victory over Owen Heitkamp.
Celina's Ross Helmer goes for a takedown on Coldwater's Brent Hueing.
Celina voided out at 150 to make it 59-12. Matt Uhlenhake then gave the Cavaliers the final win of the evening at 157 with Matt Uhlenhake scoring a 15-9 decision on Luke Maxwell.
"I felt like we wrestled them as hard we can," said Coldwater coach Aaron Alig. "We're banged up. Great atmosphere with the younger kids with all the fans."
In girls matches, Larissa Jackson picked up a win for the Celina girls while Grace Heyne and Abby Alig won for Coldwater.
Both teams return to the mat on Thursday. Celina hosts Shawnee in Western Buckeye League competition at the high school gymnasium while Coldwater crosses the state line to take on New Haven.
