Royal defeats all challengers
Royal defeats all challengers
ROYAL CITY — The Knights recorded a total of 14 pins on the evening as they won all four of their matches on the eve of their annual Royal Rumble tournament.
In Friday's nightcap, Ritchie Villafana's second period pin at 103 pounds gave Royal a lead over River View they would not relinquish. The Knights went on to win the dual 54-27.
In addition to Villafana, Luke Tonnemaker (135 lbs.), Andrew Butler (140 lbs.) and TJ Hunt (171 lbs.) won their matches by fall.
In the most exciting match of the dual, Royal's Chencho Lopez lost 17-15 in overtime to River View's LB Barney. With the score tied at 13 and less than 30 seconds remaining in the match, Barney gave Lopez an escape and a 1-point lead.
Barney then scored a takedown to grab a 15-14 lead over Lopez. However, a penalty for locking hands by Barney tied the match with four seconds remaining.
The River View wrestler got the winning takedown just 14 seconds into the overtime period.
Against Kittitas, Royal fell behind 20-18 before winning five straight matches to secure a 51-26 victory.
After picking up a forfeit victory at 119 pounds, the Knights' Arturo Barajas earned a second round pin over Kittitas' Adan Avalos to ignite Royal's winning streak.
Following Barajas, Sam Villegas earned a first period pin after holding Kittitas' Michael McElroy on his back for most of the round.
Villegas, competing for the first time since an elbow injury sidelined him a month ago, won both his matches by fall.
"We were a little apprehensive," said Royal coach Ben Orth about Villegas' quick return to competition. "He's wanted to wrestle for weeks now. It's nice to see him walk off the mat healthy."
In the other big dual meet Friday, Royal dispatched Pomeroy 60-18.
Royal's Brian Gilbert rallied from a 2-0 first round deficit to defeat Pomeroy's Kent Jenkins 9-4. Jenkins appeared in control of the match early, but an escape by Gilbert as time expired in the first round seemed to energize the Royal wrestler.
Ahead 4-2, Gilbert gave up an escape with 10 seconds remaining in the second round. Gilbert then scored a takedown at the end of the round to cushion his lead.
A 3-point near-fall in the final round locked up the win for Gilbert.
At 140 pounds, Andrew Butler was dominant in earning a 18-2 technical fall in the second round of his match. Butler finished the night 4-0, with two pins and a 18-4 decision to go along with his technical fall victory.
Orth was pleased with Butler's success, considering he just recently returned to the Royal lineup.
"It's nice to see him go out and do well," Orth said.
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