Senior Dayton Filloon locks horns with Williamsburg’s Gavin Vesey during South Tama’s home dual meet on Jan. 20. Filloon has been the go-to wrestler at the 285-pound class for South Tama this season with seven victories and six wins by forfeit. — Photo by Darvin Graham

The South Tama Trojans were hit with a little cool water last week as they dropped their first dual match of 2022 to a talented Williamsburg team.

South Tama hosted Williamsburg and Center Point-Urbana on Jan. 20 for WaMaC conference action.

Before the Trojans took the mats the Trojan Warrior Elite youth club participants were recognized and celebrated for their most recent season.

South Tama’s first match up was against a middling CP-U squad that has struggled to compete at the conference team level for the past few years.

The Trojans made quick work of the Pointers, winning 61-18 behind seven pins, two decisions (one major) and two forfeits.

Tiny Trojans watch on as they are greeted by the South Tama varsity wrestling squad during TWE Night on Jan. 20. The Trojan Warrior Elite youth club has been a valuable feeder program for South Tama wrestling over a number of years and has helped nearly all of STC’s varsity wrestlers become the athletes they are today in some manner. — Photo by Darvin Graham

The quickest pin of the match came from Gavin Bridgewater at 220 who stuck Jagger Clemons in 14 seconds.

Things tightened up as the night wore on and the Raiders took the mat.

South Tama got back-to-back wins from Bridgewater, Boden Koehler (170), Logan Arp (138), Eligh Branan and Amare Chavez (126).

However Williamsburg gave up no forfeits and took six out of their eight victories by fall to maximize their scoring while allowing only one victory by South Tama to come by way of a fall.

Williamsburg came away with the dual win 48-21.

South Tama assistant coach Levi Kaufman got an unexpected assignment when he reported to the Roundhouse on TWE Night. The Trojans found out at the last minute one of their referees that was on the schedule to call the meet had double-booked himself and was unavailable. Kaufman stepped in and called the JV matches while the other regularly-scheduled referee officiated the two varsity duals. -- Photo by Darvin Graham

On Saturday the Trojans made their routine visit to Le Grand for the East Marshall/GMG Duals.

South Tama cruised through their opening rounds with wins over Gilbert (51-24) and Collins-Maxwell (72-12).

South Tama’s 220-pounder Gavin Bridgewater grabbed a statement win during the Gilbert dual, defeating 10th-ranked Joe Larimore 6-2, escaping a nearfall situation in the second period and scoring the go-ahead takedown in the final seconds of the second to lock in the victory.

Things heated up quickly for the Trojans once they got to the third round to face the Union Knights. The Trojans narrowly advanced to the finals by a score of 39-38.

South Tama put up wins by Ryne Kesl (fall), Rudy Papakee (dec., 6-5), Amare Chavez (fall), Anthony Thompson (fall) and Logan Arp (fall). The team also received points for an injury forfeit at 170 and a forfeit at 220.

Credit could also be given to the defensive efforts by Andres Lugo Jr. (152) and Eligh Branan (113) who both took losses against ranked opponents but did so by avoiding being pinned or defeated by technical fall.

In the tournament championship match, the Trojans squared up against Benton Community.

It was another barnburner of a dual with the final score once again coming down in South Tama’s favor by a narrow margin, 40-37.

South Tama received wins by Cale Graff (fall), Amare Chavez (fall), Jacob Youngbear (fall), Logan Arp (tech fall) and Boden Koehler (fall).

Lugo played a similar role in his match against Benton, again taking on a ranked opponent. Against 11th-ranked Brenden Heying, Lugo took a loss but avoided being pinned which saved two team points that wound up being valuable at the end of the day.

The Trojans had one final regular season dual on Thursday, a home meet against Marion, and will kick off the postseason with the WaMaC tournament in Solon on Jan. 29.

Ranked teams set to attend the conference tournament include 2A No. 1 West Delaware, No. 3 Independence, No. 15 Williamsburg, No. 20 Mount Vernon and 1A No. 16 Beckman Catholic.

A total of 33 ranked wrestlers including South Tama’s No. 3 Logan Arp (138), No. 6 Boden Koehler (170) and No. 11 Amare Chavez (120) could also be taking the mats this weekend.