The East Central wrestling team has had a dominating run over the past several years, so Franklin County's 42-34 victory Thursday at FCHS can safely be called a signature win. The Trojans were hurt a little by graduation and transfers and may not have been at full capacity after a deep football run, Wildcat coach Doug Deters remarked.

Picking up five victories by fall, along with two by decision and one by forfeit, the Wildcats improved to 1-0 on the young season with Cambridge City Lincoln and Northeastern visiting tonight, Dec. 7, ahead of the Tom Hill Invitational at Richmond Saturday.

The match opened at 113 pounds as sophomore Cole Freese faced off with Jaxson Carr. Trailing 2-1, Freese executed an acrobatic reversal and finished the move with a pin of his Trojan foe.

At 120, it was fellow soph Colin Troyer needing a minute, 14 seconds to pin EC's Brayden Proctor. Soon after, the home side built its lead to 18-0 when Ty Bruns pinned Casey Jones in the 126 bout with 1:04 still on the first-period clock.

Blake Wolf, state qualifier the past two years for EC, wrestled up a weight class at 132 and secured a pin over Brandon Willis at the 42.1 mark of the first. EC was on the board at 18-6.

Sophomore Avery Crouch met Brady Merk in the 138 class. The match appeared to be headed to an overtime period as the combatants took a 4-4 score into the final 10 seconds. Merk was then whistled for an illegal move, awarding the winning point to Crouch.

The score now 21-6, the visitors inched closer with falls in the next two bouts. Dylan Lengerich and junior Owen Darwish battled into round three at 145 with Lengerich earning the pin with 1:08 left. Senior Jadon Napier fought Grayson Hylton into the second period before falling at :56.

Another senior, Hayden Newell, stepped into the circle with Logan Schmitt for the 160 duel. With 47.2 seconds left in regulation, Newell finished his opponent to make it a 27-18 match.

At 170, junior Breck Bohman had a tough rival in Brayden Huber. By the end of three frames, Huber had won a 16-7 major decision to pull EC four points closer. A forfeit for FC's Lane Westerman at 182 placed the score at 33-22.

Senior Lendon Sizemore squared off with Trey Nishime at 195; Sizemore earned the pin to put FC on the brink of victory. The Trojans would need pins in the final three contests to win the night; they only got two as senior Clayton Bolser decisioned Matthew Mittermeir 2-0 in the 285 class.

Brady Jones pinned Nathan Noble at the 1:31 mark of period two of the 220 bout. In the lightweight match (106), Tyler Stenger pinned Bryce Bruns at 49.8 of the first.