On Thursday, January 16th, the Timberwolves wrestling team faced Noble High School in the North Gym.

If you are new to wrestling, here is how it works: Teams compete by scoring team points.  Team points are earned by the results of the individual matches. Each match consists of three, two minute periods. If a wrestler pins his opponent, the match ends, and the team is awarded 6 team points. If 15 or fewer points are scored, and the match is a victory by eight points, it is called a major decision and the team gets four points.  Five team points can be gained when a wrestler wins by technical fall, which is a lead of 15 points during the match. If a wrestler wins by regular decision, which is seven points or less, 3 team points are earned.  The athletes gain points for different moves during their match, such as takedown-2, escape-1, reversal-2, near fall-2 or 3, and penalty points. Penalty point includes stalling-1, false start-1, clasping-1, illegal holds-1. If a team doesn’t have a certain weight class, the team who does have it gets an automatic team point, and this is called a bye, or void.

The night started off with the captains, Elijah Cagel, Damon O’Neill, and Austin Long shaking hands with the opposing team for the coin toss. Winning the coin toss gives that team the choice of the position, either being on the top or bottom, the position they will start in during the second period. 

The first victory of the night for the Timberwolves was Jacob Zimmer (126), who pinned his opponent in the second period. Zimmer was one of the state qualifiers last season. This is his last season of wrestling in high school, and he already shows high standards for himself.

Hayden Brown (132), also put impressive numbers up. Brown kept his opponent from getting points on the board, and his match ended in a major decision putting the score at 15-0 for the Timberwolves.  

Norman North received 12 automatic team points for the bye matches for Dylan Smith and Elijah Cagel.

Damon O’Neill (152) and Austin Long (170) both pinned their opponents to put 12 more team points on the board for the Timberwolves, scoring 24 unanswered points in four matches.

The final score of the dual was 53-30, giving Norman North a big win over Noble High School.