The Madison Bulldogs swept three dual wrestling matches at the Madison Quadrangular on Thursday night in the Madison Middle School Gym to close out the dual portion of the 2012-13 schedule.
Madison rolled to three convincing wins: 47-24 over Lennox, 52-30 over Dakota Valley and 56-18 over Sioux Falls O'Gorman.
With the win over Lennox, the Bulldogs were able to accomplish one of their goals: capturing the Big 8 dual championship. Madison went 4-0 in dual competition in Big 8 Conference matches.
"This was a goal of ours to capture the Big 8 title," said senior Brendon Waldner.
After the teams traded pins to open up the match, the score was deadlocked at 6-6. Bailey Mennis picked up Madison's pin at 113 pounds over Wesley Weischedel in 6:25.
A forfeit by Madison at 120 put the Orioles back on top 12-6.
Waldner was able to pin Brock Stien in 2:24 in the 138-pound class to knot the score at 12-12.
Lennox went back into the lead 18-12 with a pin at 145 pounds. This was the last time the Orioles were in the lead.
Matt Goth earned a pin at 152 pounds over Josh Goeman in 3:43 to deadlock the score once again, 18-18.
Three forfeits put the Bulldogs on top 36-18 with only three matches left.
Madison won two of the last three matches. Blake Gusso earned a technical fall 20-4 over Sam Metiver at 220 pounds.
The other win was a forfeit win.
"It is really great to win the Big 8 Conference," said Wyatt Fender. "We have had a great year."
"Coming off a long road trip on Tuesday and turning around and wrestling right away is sometimes difficult, and our kids were not as sharp as we would have liked," said Madison Coach Chris Waba. "Winning the Big 8 Conference was a goal this season and to have the kids go out and get it is a wonderful thing for them."
Madison 52, Dakota Valley 30
Madison jumped out to a quick 16-0 lead with a pin, a major decision and a forfeit win. Jared Hodges pinned Robert Streeter in 34 seconds in the 106-pound class.
Mennis followed that with a major decision 16-7 over Kaleb Martin in the 113-pound class.
The Panthers were able to score the next 24 points with an injury default, a pin and two forfeit wins.
Madison regained the lead by collecting six straight forfeit wins and held a 52-24 lead with just one match left.
Tanner Lambert of Dakota Valley pinned Ayson Jones in 4:36 in the 285-pound class.
"Jones gave the number one ranked heavyweight in the state a very good match until the third period," Waba said.
Madison 56, SFG 18
Madison jumped out to an 18-0 lead with a two pins and a forfeit win.
Hodges pinned Tigh Hight in 1:54 in the 106-pound class and Mennis followed at 113 with a pin over Cole Hayes in 2:34.
After the Knights received two forfeits, Waldner picked up a pin against Kier Currier in 1:28 in the 138-pound class.
Fender followed with a pin against Eli Redding in 1:21 in the 145-pound class to give the Bulldogs a 24-12 lead.
Madison received two forfeits in the next three matches to hold a 42-15 lead.
Tyler Currey earned a technical fall 18-3 over Gage Fichter in the 182-pound class.
The Bulldogs had a forfeit win and a decision win in two of the last three matches.
Jones picked up a 5-2 decision over Sam Weisensee at 285 pounds.
The Bulldogs finished the regular season with a 16-8 dual record and currently have eight 20-match winners.
Now the Bulldogs' attention is on the region tournament to be held at Brookings on Feb. 16 starting at 10 a.m.
"I want to show up and wrestle hard at the regions," Fender said.
"I have four ranked wrestlers in my class and I need to beat one to go to the state meet," Waldner said.
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