Sophomore Aiden Polk’s wild pinfall victory with just one second remaining gave the Durant High wrestling team a dramatic 42-39 dual victory over Little Axe in the home opener last week.
Polk’s triumph capped an exciting matchup that was filled with more ups and downs than a roller coaster, which fittingly came down to the final match with the outcome hanging in the balance.
Ultimately coming down the last two matches at 144 and 150 pounds respectively, the Lions had two of their catalysts remaining while needing decisive victories with a 39-30 deficit.
The first of those was junior Mac Barbush, who took care of his end with quick work at 144. He burst out to a 6-0 scoring lead with an immediate takedown and near fall before notching a fall decision in just 63 seconds to pull Durant within striking distance heading into the finale.
Facing one of Little Axe’s top grapplers and state placer Rebel Doiron in the 150-pound finale, Polk fought to an 8-6 edge and was on the brink of ending pin fall at the end of period two, which came just after the buzzer.
Things went back and forth throughout a thrilling third stanza with Polk looking in trouble nearing the midway point before scoring a reversal to tie the score at 11.
Doiron took the lead with an escape at the 34-second mark, but the Lion sparkplug answered on a takedown in the closing 10 seconds and finished it off with a deciding pin just before the buzzer that gave Durant the win instead of a 39-39 tie.
“That Little Axe wrestler was their best kid and we knew Aiden needed to win and get bonus points in the match for us to win the dual,” head coach Jim Taylor commented. “Mac got us a big fall to get us in that position and then Aiden wrestled a great match and showed his resiliency.
“We are going to see a lot of close duals. We are so young with four somewhat veteran guys in the middle weights that we are counting on. We felt starting the dual at 157 pounds where we did, that we would have a chance to start strong and finish strong and that’s what we did.”
Beginning the dual with the 157-pound match, Braeden Emert had the lead late in the third period before a Little Axe takedown and near fall in the final five seconds notched a 12-9 decision.
At 165, freshman Aiden Makke came up with one of the biggest performances of the night, building a 10-2 point lead in the third period ahead of a pin fall win with 10.4 seconds left.
Senior Adam Haney’s dominant fall triumph 29 seconds into the second period at 175 pounds pushed the Lions to a 12-3 team advantage.
Little Axe surged back in front with back-to-back first period fall wins at 190 and 215 pounds, but Gaige Rocha responded at heavyweight for the Lions with a pivotal first period fall victory of his own.
Back at 106 pounds, Durant’s Canan Walls drew a forfeit that gave the Lions a 24-15 lead that didn’t last long as the visitors scored quick fall wins at 113, 120 and 126 pounds.
In desperate need of a team win at 132 pounds, sophomore Shawn Humphrey delivered with another fall verdict with 38 seconds left in the first frame that narrowed the margin to 33-30.
Senior Matt Frazer looked on his way to a win at 138 pounds with a lead heading into the third period but found himself in a tough spot late for a pin loss with 14 seconds to go.
That set the state for the drama-filled Lion comeback in the final two matches.
“We got some wins tonight from some kids that really needed them for confidence,” Taylor said. “Shawn Humphrey got us a key win at 132 and at 165 we didn’t really know who we were going to send out there, but Aiden Makke really stepped up and handled it well.
“The biggest key was that we were able to fill all the weight classes. We’ve got a lot of youth that are just going to have to get better every time out there. They grew up some tonight.”
In girls’ action, Durant was on the short end of a 78-6 dual verdict against a powerful Little Axe unit.
The only Lady Lion victory came at 105 pounds where freshman Olivia Crossland picked up a forfeit win. She also posted a fall decision in just one minute of an exhibition contest.
