Thursday night in Tipton the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk wrestling team opened the River Valley Conference season by sweeping through a triangular with Tipton and West Branch.

The Hawks started the night with a 38-30 win over Tipton. Mid-Prairie got wins in contested matches from Rylee Vercande at 126 by fall, Vinnie Bowlin at 145 by tech fall, David Murray by 14-12 decision, Colton Allen at 182 by fall, Josh Wallington at 195 by fall, and Isaac Boucher at 220 by fall. After the meet Murray talked about his wild win. “My gameplan was to just try to get the win any way that I could. The team points were important. That was probably the toughest match I have ever been through. We were pretty even, it was a dogfight the whole way through. The feeling with the referee raises your hand is one of the best.”

In the nightcap the Hawks edged the Bears from West Branch in come-from-behind fashion 39-36. Mid-Prairie got wins in contested matches from Cael Garvey at 160 by fall and trailing 36-30 Cory and Colton Allen finished the dual with a 12-9 decision and a pin to give the Hawks the win. After the meet, Mid-Prairie head coach Justin Garvey talked about the Allen’s and their wins in the tight dual. “They showed a lot of heart. Cory was in a hole, he was down, didn’t have an answer for the other guys shots but he stayed in there and was mentally tough. That’s a key for him this year. He pushed the pace, scored the takedowns and got the ‘W’. We needed bonus points out of Colton and I told him today is your day to be a hero. He went out, was aggressive and got what we needed.”

After the sweep the Golden Hawks are 3-2 on the year and will be in the New London tournament Saturday.