Royal avoids letdown against Connell

ROYAL CITY — Just two days removed from a tremendous 40-28 dual meet victory at defending 2A state champion Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls), it would have been understandable if the Knights came out flat against Connell, a team which on Thursday could only fill eight of 14 weight classes. Royal coach Ben Orth was aware as anyone of this possibility, and spoke to his team before the dual about staying focused.

"We told the guys before the match…coming off a high, big win, sometimes you can be lackadaisical," said the Knight coach of his pre-match talk with the team. "I think the kids responded."

The Knights responded with a 47-11 victory over the visiting Eagles in which nearly every Royal wrestler looked sharp and wrestled up to their ability.

The most entertaining match of the night was the evening's finale, where underdog Jordan Thomas of Royal took on Connell's state championship contender Adam Orozco. While on paper the Connell grappler was head-and-shoulders better than Thomas, the Royal senior took to the mat with a winning attitude and didn't back down to Orozco.

"He's just kind of a brawler, a scrappy kid," said Orth of Thomas. "We just said 'hey, just bring it."

And bring it he did.

Twenty seconds into the match, Orozco threw a powerful head-and-arm that Thomas was able to avoid and turn into a takedown near the edge of the mat. The early takedown by the Royal wrestler got the home crowd into the match and helped set the tone for the remainder of the contest.

Orozco finished the round with an escape and a takedown to grab a 3-2 lead. In the second round, Orozco escaped from the bottom position and then took Thomas down for a 6-3 lead.

The Knight wrestler escaped, but was taken down again with 42 seconds to wrestle in the round to fall behind 8-3. Thomas, battling to escape from the bottom position, did just that with 14 seconds left in the round to close the margin to 8-4.

A third-round escape gave Thomas another point, and the two wrestlers spent much of the final period jockeying for position and looking for a big throw. With 14 seconds left in the match, Thomas countered an Orozco attack and turned it into another takedown near the edge of the mat.

Now trailing 8-7, Thomas had only a short time to score the winning points. In the closing seconds of the final round, Thomas was able to lock up a cradle on Orozco, but the Royal wrestler ran out of time before he was able to convert the hold into near-fall points.

"I'm very pleased with his performance tonight," remarked Orth of Thomas' effort in the bout.

The dual began at 171 pounds, where Ernesto Deras defeated Connell's Jose Mendoza by fall in 1:48. After a quick takedown, Deras took it to Mendoza from the top position, shutting down Mendoza's movement from the bottom and methodically working the Connell wrestler into position for the fall.

At 189 pounds, Royal's Hector Ledezma recovered from an early takedown to earn a 17-4 major-decision victory over Ruben Orozco.

The next bout of the night took place at 112 pounds, where Rigoberto Jimenez dominated Connell's David Montes and came away with a 12-0 victory.

In the 130-pound bout, Royal freshman Kody Eilers was beaten 14-3 by Connell senior Martin Garcia. Eilers fought through a pair of pin attempts by Garcia and took the Eagle wrestler down to open the third round.

Royal's Omar Avelar was a winner at 140 pounds over Omar Velasquez. Avelar, leading 12-4 entering the third round, escaped a head-and-arm from Velasquez and went on to win 14-10.

The Knights' final victory of the evening came at 145 pounds, where Angel Ledezma pinned the Eagles' Felix Montes in 3:12.