It was a dominating performance in ASIJ's first competition in over a month, and the last dual meet of the season. The visiting Mustangs silenced the normally raucous CAJ crowd with five fast pins on the way to a 48-5 thrashing in the Higashi Kurume gymnasium on Saturday. There's not a lot you can say about matches that last less than a minute, so let's just take a look at what was probably going through the minds of the pin-ers during their short seconds on the mat. 129 - Bryce: I wonder if he knows the "nose to knee" yoga pose. I'll teach him right after a TD... 28 seconds. 135 - Mich: Let's see if you can pin someone without getting a takedown. ::26 seconds later:: I guess so. 141 - Julian: Whatever Mich does, I'll do, too, but I like wrestling, so I'll do it in double his time. 53 seconds. 148 - Take Z: Ever seen a duck-under-to-pin? Well, you can now cross that off your bucket list. 15 seconds. 168 - James: As a future father, I'd like a nice cradle. ::38 seconds later:: It works on high schoolers, too! But wait! There's more! Kaisei (115), Connor (158), Shawn (215), and Dylan H (HWT) all did what they needed to be eligible, make weight, and stay healthy at their weight classes. Because CAJ couldn't fill their roster at those weights, each of the Mustangs gained the max five points for the team via forfeit. Of note, Dylan's win was the first of his career as a wrestler, and it was the first for ASIJ at heavyweight this season. Thinking this is all too short? For everyone who was hoping to see long, close, effort-filled matches, Leon (122) and Dylan T (180) gave the people what they wanted. Leon, facing the CAJ captain who he lost a close decision to under modified rules in December, took shot after shot, but none of them ended in points. Down a very comeback-able 4-0 at the end of the first period, he seemed to wear down a little and gave up a few more takedowns before succumbing to a pin midway through the second. Dylan T dug an early 4-0 hole after being thrown to his back, but he avoided the pin to stay alive and start to chip away at his energetic foe. The two combined for 12 takedowns, reversals, and exposures, Dylan getting a few more of them, to end up tied 13-13 with 14 seconds left. A typical single leg takes 7-10 seconds to complete, and it takes a little bit to set it up. Dylan would lose a tie based on criteria so, needing to score, he took a shot, fought through the defense, and got control right at the edge of the mat, right as the buzzer sounded. Everyone looked at the ref... TAKEDOWN! Dylan won 15-13. (whoo!!! whew!!!) For the JV matches after the varsity dual meet, several CAJ varsity wrestlers were willing to go again to give the Mustangs some matches. ASIJ went 5-3 along with a Mustang vs Mustang match. Leo put up a good fight but couldn't get anything to work on offense, eventually falling by tech fall 11-0. Gregor looked fantastic as he scored and scored and scored and scored on the CAJ captain until finally pinning him in the 2nd period. Kaisei was totally dominant, controlling territory on the mat, getting a takedown, and flipping his foe for a potential pin. But, he got slightly out of position, got reversed, and gave up the pin. You can bet he wants that one back, and probably wins nine times out of 10. Take K scored takedown after takedown until turning and pinning his opponent, without allowing a point, in the first period. Oskar was in a rock fight, giving up first points but scoring over and over, but giving up just enough to keep it interesting. With less than a minute left in the match, he found an opening and pinned the opponent. Kent, after a few seconds of getting a feel for the foe, took him down and pinned him in less than 30 seconds. In an intra-ASIJ affair, Kaz took down Connor and turned him for a 4-0 lead. It was all Connor after that, though, as Connor scored 14 straight points, including five takedowns, to prevail 14-4 in the 2nd period. Charlie took on a varsity Knight, throwing him for four points twice before eventually falling to a 2nd period pin. Harald lost in a December match full of fireworks to the Knight that Dylan T felled in the literal last second during the dual meet. This time around, however, Harald was ready, giving up only one point before securing a thundering first period pin to close out the action. This was the last time the Mustangs will take the mat this season, so it was great to go out with a dominating team performance over a KPASS rival who, not that long ago, was beating up on ASIJ. You'll "love" that the end of season awards ceremony will be on February 14, right after school.
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