Wildcats grapplers get started at Prairie Central

    The Wilmington varsity wrestling team kicked off their season this past weekend, as they competed in the Prairie Central Duals, where they went 2-2.
    The Wildcats picked up convincing wins over Riverton (46-15) and Gibson City- Melvin-Sibley (42-24), but wound up dropping matches to Prairie Central (54-27) and Monticello (41-36).
    Standout wrestler Matt Nutt has gotten his season off to a fast start, going undefeated as he wrestled between the 138 and 145 weight classes.
    At 138, Nutt picked up wins over Dayton Whitehurst (Riverton) with a 4:17 pin, defeated Will Tatro (Prarie Central) with a 3:03 pin, and captrued another pin over Monticello’s Max Jarvis in 2:46.
    Nutt wrestled up for another win, defeating Calden Ragle from GC-M-S with a 6-1 decision.
    Clayton Van Duyne also finished undefeated, picking up three wins over wrestlers, while also receiving a forfeit.
    Van Duyne secured wins over Logan Bennigfield (GC-M-S) with a pin in 32 seconds, pinned Conner Casner (Prarie Central) in 3:51, and beat Monticecllo’s Hunter Weeks with a 2:28 pin.
    The Wildcats hosted Aurora East on Tuesday, and will be back in action in Wilmington on Thursday against Streator, Sandwich and Lisle in an I-8 quad.