Middleton, Fla. — In front of its home crowd for the first time this season, The Villages High School wrestling team didn't disappoint those inside the VHS Gymnasium on Wednesday night in Middleton.

The Buffalo rolled to a 61-18 victory over Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville), as VHS earned bonus points in 10 of the 14 bouts and secured eight pins along the way toward a lopsided victory.

"It was a really good opportunity for us and to win that decisively, it's always a good thing," said VHS first-year head coach Joe Cummings.  "We've still got a lot to work on. We scored a lot of points tonight, but I thought we also left a lot out there, too. The good thing is, we're still in the 'process' part of our season and we'll be more focused on the results later on, and hopefully peak at the right time."

VHS got things rolling with a pair of wins at 132 and 138 pounds, respectively, as Jonathan Overstreet opened with a fall and younger brother Wyatt Overstreet earned a 7-5 decision. Noah Armstrong followed with a pin at 144 pounds to extend the Buffalo lead to 15-0.

After Nature Coast rattled off back-to-back pins to cut its deficit to 15-12, a string of four straight wins by VHS put the hometown team firmly in control.

David Mooney (165 pounds) and Johnathan Clohecy (190) sandwiched technical falls around a pin at 175 pounds from Jesse Nelson, before Keagan Woodward (215) added another fall for VHS to extend the dual lead to 37-12. 

A heavyweight win by the visiting Sharks turned the lineup back to the top, where VHS closed out the dual with four consecutive pins to cruise to victory.

The quartet of Aaron Spratt (106), Skyler Eldredge (113), Charles Idleman (120) and DJ Dunn (126) finished things off for the Buffalo, who will now turn their attention to another home event — the St. John Memorial Holiday Tournament — starting at 10 a.m. Saturday inside the Buffalo Sports Complex at VHS.

"It was great to see some of our young guys get out there and get after it," Cummings said. "I was especially proud of Idleman and Spratt, that's a freshman in his first year and a senior that's facing a guy that has beat him already. I'm super proud of a lot of these guys, but I think we all know we've got a lot of work to do and I'm excited to get back in the room to do it."


MATCH RESULTS
The Villages 61, Nature Coast 18
132: Jonathan Overstreet (VHS) def. Alan Perkins (NCT), fall
138: Wyatt Overstreet (VHS) def. Ethan Arce (NCT), 7-5 dec
144: Noah Armstrong (VHS) def. Carlos Perez (NCT), fall
150: Kaden Etheridge (NCT) def. Brock Merrill (VHS), fall
157: Bryce Senzig (NCT) def. Cameron Nicoll (VHS), fall
165: David Mooney (VHS) def. Dylan Balukonis (NCT), tech fall
175: Jesse Nelson (VHS) def. Jeremiah Rodriguez (NCT), fall
190: Johnathan Clohecy (VHS) def. Brayden Barrett (NCT), tech fall
215: Keagan Woodward (VHS) def. Nick Gifford (NCT), fall
285: Zackary Selback (NCT) def. Antonio Martinez (VHS), fall
106: Aaron Spratt (VHS) def. Zackary Myers (NCT), fall
113: Skyler Eldredge (VHS) def. Julian Arce (NCT), fall
120: Charles Idleman (VHS) def. Caleb Foster (NCT), fall
126: DJ Dunn (VHS) def. Keith Gilbert (NCT), fall



Cody Hills can be reached for questions or comment via email at cody.hills@tvcs.org.