The learning curve was steep at the start of the season for a vast inexperienced Dothan wrestling team.
Now nearly 70 percent into the season, the Wolves are turning all their learning into success. The latest example came Monday night when the Wolves won a quad meet at Northside Methodist, defeating Houston Academy 48-22, Northside Methodist 54-24 and Wewahitchka 40-30.
Houston Academy went 2-1 at the quad meet, beating Wewahitchka 39-30 and Northside Methodist 36-24. In the other match, Wewahitchka took a 42-24 win over the host Knights, who only filled seven of the 14 weight classes and went 0-3 on the night. Dothan, which had only two experienced wrestlers coming into the season, continued a recent surge after getting beat up early by top teams like Smiths Station and Enterprise. On Monday, the Wolves earned a victory in 26 of the 42 matches with 10 by pinfall and one by a major decision. People are also reading… “Personally getting the football kids on the mat and some new faces out is what I have done a good job of,” Dothan head coach John Biezuns said. “Now it is coach Mitchell and our other coaches helping them along and the kids coming to practice, paying attention in practice and putting in the work. It is a result of that now.”“Hopefully we are getting good at the right time, which is the sectional tournament,” Biezuns, noting the start of individual postseason, which is just four weeks away. One of the highlights for Dothan Monday was its win over Houston Academy, a team that took a solid 42-30 win over the Wolves at a season-opening match back on Nov. 21. The dual against HA also featured 10 contested matches, while the matches against the other two schools featured a handful of forfeit wins. “That one is how we are judging ourselves,” Biezuns said. “The first time, they took it to us. Obviously, we have added some kids since then – some are paying attention in the room and doing well and some that still have a ways to go. It is that learning curve. “The HA match was probably our most complete match and that is what we needed it to be because the last time we had a crappy showing .” Five Dothan wrestlers went 3-0 on the night, highlighted by Caleb Ham at 106 pounds. Ham earned first-period pinfalls against HA and NMA and a decisive 17-3 win over Wewahitchka’s wrestler. Mykel Lowe , Cooper Hall , Kunyea Moore and James Carroll also went 3-0 for DHS. Nick Johnson , Cole Motenbecker and Torion Wilson all went 2-1. Johnson had a second-period pin against Houston Academy and a forfeit win against NMA. Motenbecker and Wilson both had a second-period pin against Houston Academy and a forfeit from Wewahitchka. Tylan Rivers and Jimmy Berry picked up wins by pins against NMA, while Zach Walker and Isaiah Miatke had forfeit wins from the Knights.Houston Academy won two of its three duals, picking four wins and three forfeits to beat Wewahitchka and six forfeits and one win by pin against NMA. Jack Jones and Andrew Gil both went 3-0 for the Raiders. Jones won on a second-period pin over Dothan, a first-period pin over Wewahitchka and a forfeit from Northside Methodist. Gil earned a second-period pin over Dothan, a 7-0 win over Wewahitchka and a forfeit from NMA. Jonah Beaver and Hughes Williams both went 2-1. Beaver had second-period pins over Dothan and Wewahitchka and Williams won 15-4 over Dothan’s Berry and by forfeit from NMA. Three HA wrestlers received forfeit wins from Wewahitchka -- Miller Rane , Keygan Ebarb and Allen Watkins . Sean Green won on a first-period pin over the Gators. In the dual against NMA, Abe Haskins earned a first-period pin, while Emmett Payne and Watkins received forfeit wins.“I was really proud of the younger guys doing well in varsity matches,” Houston Academy head coach Brian McDonald said of seventh graders Haskins and Veale, eighth graders Beaver and Watkins. “I felt the varsity guys did well, as expected. “We have to start getting focused on sectionals and state – work out some of the details with our top game,” added McDonald.David Bailey and Jesse Dyson continued their strong seasons, leading the charge for Northside Methodist. Bailey, a junior 132-pounder who came in with a 28-7 record, added three more wins – one on a first-period pin and two on second-period pins. He also won an exhibition match on a first-period pin. Dyson, a junior in the 138 weight class who was 22-6 entering the night, went 3-0 during the duals with two second-period pins and a forfeit. Brayden Monk also went 3-0, receiving forfeits in all three matches. Monk did wrestle an exhibition against Dothan and won on a second-period pin. James Dix won by forfeit against Wewahitchka and took a DQ win from Dothan off an illegal slam. Wesley Hartman claimed a first-period pin over Houston Academy. “I thought the guys wrestled well first of all,” Northside Methodist coach Travis Robinson said. “I think having a bigger event in our gym kind of took some of the spotlight off them and lot of them relaxed and wrestled. I think we are up on the climb and not on the downside. “We are hoping we keep peaking and peak all the way right through sectionals to state, especially with those two . Of the seven guys we have, everybody has a shot to qualify for state. We just have to get out there and wrestle.”Seven girls matches were also held at the meet, including Northside Methodist’s Tristin Robinson, who was recognized on senior night. She is the lone senior in the NMA program. In a 152-pound match, Robinson defeated Wewahitchka’s Avery Forehand on a pin midway in the second period. The other six matches were all Dothan against Wewahitchka. The teams finished in an 18-18 tie off three wins each with the Gators winning the dual off the tiebreaker off first points scored in each match . Dothan wins came from Adayadi Hernandez on a third-period pin and by Olivia Piasecki , who took two victories by pins.
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