Kari Gibb/MDN Bishop Ryan senior Drew Zwak battles New Salem-Almont senior Brock Norton in the final round matchup at 172-lbs at Bishop Ryan High School on Thursday, December 5, with four schools in attendance to compete.

The Lions grapplers welcomed Beulah-Hazen, Harvey-Wells County and New Salem-Almont to the Lion’s den for an evening of wrestling on Thursday, December 5. Each team faced the others in three duel matches in the opening night of grappling for Bishop Ryan.

The Holsteins from New Salem-Almont topped each of the other teams as a team while Bishop Ryan only had seven wrestlers compete in the 13 weight classification.

Lion’s sophomore Peyton Seay was at 114-lbs, eighth grader Afton Ost at 121, senior Riley Weeks at 127, sophomore Nolan Braun at 133, freshman Zachary Spain at 145, senior Drew Zwak at 172 and junior Cade Okeson at 285 each had three matches on the night.

The most competitive match for the Lions was the last of the night for Zwak at 172 between two wrestlers that were 2-0 on the evening. The pair battled in the first two periods with New Salem-Almont senior Brock Norton keeping the pressure on and taking a 4-0 lead at one point. Zwak patiently worked the clock and the tempo to finally get a takedown and an escape to build a lead and win the match.

Another fascinating match was between Ost at 121 and sophomore Brody Jones from Harvey-Wells County. The Hornet had the Lion down 6-0 and looked to have the match in control. Ost posted a move that gave him control and the Bishop Ryan grappler went from zero points to a win by pin in his first matchup of the evening.

Of the 21 bouts for the Lions, Bishop Ryan only dropped two on the evening, with both those losses in the third dual season with the Holsteins from New Salem-Almont.

Bishop Ryan had the closest team score with Beulah-Hazen, but each of the team scores reflected the six forfeits at the empty weights classifications of 107, 133, 139, 152, 160, 189 and 215.

New Salem-Almont were 3-0 at the event with Harvey-Wells County going 2-1 and Beulah-Hazen taking a 1-2 record as a team.

In addition to the team matchups, several exhibition matches between non-varsity wrestlers and girls teams from Harvey-Wells County and New Salem-Almont occupied fans in between the varsity duals.

Bishop Ryan will be at the Velva Invitational today, December 6, and tomorrow, December 7, to continue the start of the new season.