CARLINVILLE - Metro East Lutheran head wrestling coach Tim Muther is beaming about the performances of some of his wrestlers this week.
First off, MELHS senior wrestler Caleb Cope had an excellent week. He was a 5-0 for the Knights in their first home dual meets on Tuesday and two road dual meets in Carlinville Thursday night. Even more impressive, Cope maxed out on team points in the dual meets with five pins in those five matches at 160 pounds. Cope did not have an opponent make it to the third period - all his pins were in the first or second matches. The quickest of the five pins was a 38-second defeat of Levi Perkins of Carlinville.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
A total of six wrestlers took to the mats for MELHS this week. Cope was not the only wrestler to go 5-0 this week. At 220 pounds, sophomore Timmy Lott collected three pins and won two matches by forfeit. Wrestling at 120 pounds, junior DaJuan Burton also went 4-1 with three pins. Freshman Jakob Schroeder was 4-1 as well, wrestling at 113 pounds.
A highlight for Schroeder was a comeback win against Colin Leonard of Carlinville. He was trailing 9-2 when he got a take down and a pin in the second period. Freshman Jordan Neal went 3-2 this at 106 pounds. His match against Carlinville was back-and-forth and had the home crowd on its feet when Carter Mabus scored an escape with 10 seconds left to beat Neal, 11-10.
With just six wrestlers, MELHS usually does not do well when the team score is tallied up but the Knights did manage to win two dual meets this week and nearly won a third. They beat Breese Mater Dei, which is fielding a small team after not competing for three years, by a 30-3 score. On Thursday at Carlinville, they lost to the Pretzels of New Berlin by a 30-28 score. All but six of New Berlin's points came on forfeits.
Coach Muther is excited about the progress he is seeing with his inexperienced team, and the leadership from seniors Caleb Cope and Michael Fields.
"We are getting better as a team for sure," he said. "We won our first dual of the year and were won win away from winning two more. Each guy makes a difference."
Regarding Cope's performance Coach Muther added, "What a great week for Caleb Cope. He was battling a sprained finger for a week but he kept busy at practice each and every day. On Thursday, he has some flu symptoms and soldiered on. Great mental toughness for the others to see. Then he pins all five opponents. Awesome."
Next up for the Knights is the Toledo Cumberland Skull and Crossbones Tournament. Coach Muther will take a partial squad Saturday to the 16-team event. Unfortunately, Cope will not make the trip and hopefully feel better for meets ahead.
