ASTORIA BATTLES BANKS IN CLOSE MAT LOSS

Rarely does an Astoria-Banks wrestling dual come down to the final match.

Banks 171-pound sophomore Ben Rodgers earned an 11-3 major decision over Astoria's Cole Banta as the Braves avoided the upset with a 43-33 victory over the up-and-coming Fishermen.

"It's the closest we've ever wrestled against Banks," said Astoria head coach Cam McFarland. "Honestly, I think they're not as good as they've been in the past, but we've gotten a lot better."

Tim "Cardiac" Clark, a freshman, lived up to his nickname once again, coming from a 5-0 deficit to defeat fellow frosh Brock Markham, taking down Markham in the final 15 seconds for the go-ahead points. That turnaround kept the Fishermen alive into the final match before Rodgers sealed the victory for the Braves. Clark has won nine straight matches by coming from behind and is now 3-0 in league.

Jake Banta and Ben Mattingly, at 215 and 275 pounds respectively, made quick work of their opponents, with Banta pinning Glencoe transfer Ken Sutter in 27 seconds and Mattingly requiring less than a sweep of the second hand to defeat Sam Edison by fall.

Tad Falk had Astoria's other mat victory at 119 pounds with another pin.

Banks had four forfeit wins to two for Astoria.

The Fishermen compete in the Molalla Invitational on Saturday, featuring Yamhill-Carlton and North Marion, former Cowapa League rival Rainier, Corbett and Colton from 2A District 1 and Stevenson from the Trico League. Astoria returns to dual meet competition at Seaside on Tuesday.

189 Chris Mettee (BAN) maj. dec. Brook Smith 12-0
215 Jake Banta (AST) fall Ken Sutter 0:27
275 Ben Mattingly (AST) fall Sam Edison 0:47
103 Gabe Goodrich (BAN) technical fall Dustin Morrison 19-4
112 T.J. Arthur (BAN) fall Kenny Dowell 3:46
119 Tad Falk (AST) fall B. Ervin 2:55
125 FORFEIT (AST)
130 FORFEIT (BAN)
135 FORFEIT (BAN)
140 FORFEIT (BAN)
145 FORFEIT (BAN)
152 Tim Clark (AST) dec. Brock Markham 6-5
160 FORFEIT (AST)
171 Ben Rodgers (BAN) major dec. Cole Banta 11-3