The concept, as laid out by Carroll wrestling coach Scott Raypole, is as subtle as a kick in the head. Only way more legal.
“We preach attack, (be) aggressive, don’t stop,” he said Thursday night at Carroll. “Don’t worry about wins or losses, if you keep attacking good things are going to happen.”
Concept, meet execution.
Oh, yes: And say hello, while you’re at it, to not only good things but historic things.
As Raypole talked on at warp speed, see, history gleamed over his shoulder on the gymnasium scoreboard: Home 49, Visitor 24.
In yet another clash of Northeast Hoosier Conference mat behemoths, the Chargers finally got the best of their nemesis, the Bellmont Braves, for the first time in a dual meet.
“We wanted to win this one so bad,” said Carroll senior Riley Lefever, who helped get things started with a pin at 170 pounds, one of seven wins by pinfall for the Chargers. “We’ve always wanted to win this for the longest time, and we just went out there and got it done.”
Raypole agreed.
“It’s a long time coming,” he said.
And when it did, it was Attack, Be Aggressive and Don’t Stop that ganged up on Bellmont to get it done.
Spencer Malcolm at 160 and Lefever put the Braves on their heels with back-to-back pins right out of the gate, and the Chargers kept rolling from there. Malcolm, Lefever, Brad Sadilek (220) and Ty Douglas (285) all pinned their opponents in the first six matches, and Kayne Duncan added a win by major decision to send the Chargers to a commanding 28-6 lead.
After that, Ben Cauffman’s pin of Daniel Gunsett at 113 pounds, Stephen Cardenas’ win by pinfall at 126, freshman Josh Garman’s 3-2 win over Willie Mahlan at 138 and Alex Arney’s pin of Trevor Love at 138 kept it going.
Foir Bellmont, Brad Busse (195), Trevor Gray (106), Danny Baker (120), Brock Braun (132) and Jacob Bergman (152) notched wins. All but Bergman and Baker won by pinfall.
“We started in the right spot, and that really helped,” Raypole said. “To go out there with two pins in a row, that just kind of electrified everybody. And I think it just kind of took off from there.”
To the point where, per the concept, the Chargers started thinking bigger than just making some history.
“(After awhile), you start thinking, I don’t want to just survive, I want to win all 14 of them,” Raypole said. “I think that’s the approach is everybody we send out there has the opportunity to win. Go out there and attack and be a wrestler.”
Will do, Lefever said.
“We just go out there and push the pace and try to break every guy we wrestle,” Lefever said. “And then when we break them, we want to pin them.
“That’s what the coaches preach to us in the room, and that’s what we went out and did tonight.”
