Indians score wins over Adairsville, Southeast

Published 8:00 pm Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Edwin Bautista didn’t let being down 5-0 in the second round of a match bother him.

Yes, he was in a hole. No, he wasn’t going to accept defeat.

That’s just not the way Bautista and his Murray County Indians think.

The Indians’ heavyweight fell behind Adairsville’s Austin Jackson during their match on Tuesday at Southeast Whitfield High School, part of a tri-match with the Raiders. Jackson had Bautista down before he managed an escape. Locking up again, it was Bautista this time hitting a takedown and he wasn’t letting his opponent up.

The referee’s hand hit the mat, giving Bautista the pin. His victory helped send the Indians to a 50-26 win in the dual match.

“We just wrestle hard and wrestle to the end,” Bautista said. “You don’t quit until you hear the whistle. That’s what I did. There’s still more I can improve on and that’s what I’m going to try to do.”

Bautista fell behind after two unsuccessful takedown tries. Each time, Jackson was able to counter and got the takedown to his credit.

But Bautista showed perseverance and learned lessons from his previous tries.

The third time turned out to be the charm.

“I made some mistakes but I realized that when I made that takedown. Then I got the pin,” Bautista said. “My mistake was I keep forgetting to stick my leg out to lean him over my legs. When I finally stuck my leg out, he went down.”

He’s looking to keep improving as the wrestling season enters crunch time. Area duals are this weekend, and the individual tournament is near.

“There’s a good chance I can make it pretty far,” Bautista said. “I just need to practice more and make more improvements.”

Four other Indians won matches by pin against Adairsville. At 145 pounds, Jonathan Garcia beat the second-period buzzer, pinning Landen Sellers with 3.4 seconds left. Other pinfall winners were Melqui Delgado (170), Austin Leon (195) and Grayson Garrett (138).

Also for Murray County, Neal Henry (152) dominated his match against Owen Henry, winning by technical fall 15-0, and Jacob Arthur won by a 7-3 decision. Ryan Carter (126) and Levi Bishop (132) won matches via forfeit.

Southeast wrestled Adairsville next as the shorthanded Raiders had to forfeit six matches and lost 51-19. In contested bouts, Southeast won four of the seven. Freddy Ambriz (220) and Jose Chavarria (285) won matches by pin. Riso Webb (106) won by decision and Salvador Luna scored a 13-3 major decision.

In the night’s final match, Murray County beat Southeast 60-22 with the Raiders again forfeiting six matches. Peyton Mitchell and Leon each scored pins for the Indians.