By Reagan Hoverman

Prescott’s senior night meet on Thursday, Jan. 13, was an evening of mixed emotions. There was a lot of joy as the senior class of 2022 was honored before the wrestling began. However, the matches didn’t go the way of Prescott, as visiting Baldwin-Woodville won handily, 45-20.

In celebrating senior night, several younger wrestlers got a chance to speak over the PA system about either the senior class as a whole or about a specific wrestler who had a significant positive impact on them.

One of the speakers was Benjamin (Benny) Olson, a junior who wrestles in the 106- pound weight class. He spoke about how the seniors have had a great impact on him, specifically, Sam Murphy, who he spoke about extensively. He stated that Murphy has made him a better wrestler, has been a great leader and an even better friend.

After the pregame speeches by various wrestlers, the match began in the 170-pound weight class. Baldwin-Woodville freshman Andrew Thompson pinned Prescott junior Matthew Lynes in just under two minutes to take a 6-0 team lead over Prescott.

Prescott bounced back with a victory at the 182-pound weight class. Prescott junior Shane Butler jumped out to a 6-1 lead in his match against Adam Dodge Jr. of Baldwin-Woodville. Early in the second period of the match, Butler secured the pinfall on Dodge to tie the team score 6-6 after two matches.

The match started to get away from Prescott when the Cardinals had to forfeit the 195-pound and 220-pound matches. The forfeits gave the Blackhawks an 18-6 lead which was enough to help propel them to the aforementioned 45-20 overall victory in the dual. After the match, Prescott head coach Jordan Poirier spoke about the forfeits and how they contributed to the outcome.

“We’re missing two varsity guys tonight, so we stretched a lot of kids out,” Poirier said after the match. “We moved the 160, 170, 182, they were all bumped up a weight class just so we could fill them up. That’s pretty much been the detriment all year.”

While Prescott did suffer because of a lack of available wrestlers, the matches that they did compete in, they held their own. Most notably were the performances of Olson at 106, Butler at 182, and Murphy at 160, all of whom won their matches quite decisively.

“Yeah, absolutely we’re happy with how they wrestled,” Poirier said. “They went out and did what we expected them to do and that was compete – that’s all we can ask for.”

The two absences that Poirier referenced were Alex Iberg and Teag Panzer, who have missed time this season with injuries. Both wrestlers who are critical to Prescott’s success were unavailable on Thursday night and missed their opportunity to wrestle on senior night. Poirier spoke about not only their impact but the impact of the senior class of 2022.

“Teag (Panzer), this is his first year back,” Poirier said. “He wrestled until eighth grade and then came back out senior year. It’s almost as if he never stopped wrestling. He was back in the room and never missed a beat. The other three (Iberg, Murphy and Alex Holt), have been the core since they were freshmen. They’ve been the guys at those weight classes, they’ve been leaders in the room, they’re going to be missed when the end of the season comes. They’ve been the guys that have been the most consistent over the last four years.”

One of those seniors has been Murphy, who won his match on senior night 26-11, which was the final match of the evening in Prescott. After it was over, Murphy spoke about his match.

“Usually, I go out and try to get a quick pin,” Murphy said. “But, since I was the last match, I just wanted to go out and go for takedowns and have fun in my last match here.”

Murphy is 16-3 overall for the season, with three losses coming against some of the top-ranked wrestlers in the state. He stated that all of his losses have been close and that he competed hard in them. He also had a chance to reflect on wrestling for Prescott for the last four years.

“I’ve loved it,” Murphy said. “(Jordan) Poirier is great, I couldn’t have asked for a better coach honestly. He has made me a much better wrestler. My freshman year I wasn’t even .500 and you work with him and you’re a whole different wrestler.”

According to Murphy, he has thought about wrestling at the next level, potentially at a Division 3 school like Eau Claire, with who he has had conversations. However, he wants to focus on finishing up his senior season in Prescott with his teammates. Murphy spoke about the three other seniors on the roster.

“Alex Iberg and Alex Holt, I’ve been wrestling with them since I was in second grade,” Murphy said. “They’ve been with me through the whole process. They’ve both been my practice partners and we’ve worked each other and pushed each other really hard.”

It was a night of reflection for both the coaching staff and the wrestlers – especially the seniors – as they began to realize that this season is nearing an end. Despite the loss to Baldwin-Woodville, smiles could be seen throughout the gym by wrestlers, coaches and fans as they honored the class of 2022 one final time.

Prescott senior wrestler Sam Murphy was all smiles as he was one of four seniors honored at the Thursday night, Jan. 13, home wrestling meet. Murphy defeated Baldwin-Woodville senior Jayden Joa 26-11 in the 160-pound match. Photo by Reagan Hoverman

Junior Matthew Lynes of the Prescott wrestling team grapples with freshman Andrew Thompson of Baldwin-Woodville in the 170-pound match on Thursday night. Photo by Reagan Hoverman