A late push by the Keokuk wrestling team allowed them to triumph over Washington last night, but the Demons managed to split the road triangular by defeating Illini West of Illinois.

As heard on KCII, after the Chiefs got out to an early lead winning the first match at 220 lbs, Brayden Hartman tied the dual score at 6-6 with a pin at 285 lbs in 2:57. That started a nice roll for the Demons, as they won the next three contested matches including Jack Kleese at 106 lbs by fall (1:02), Brandon Dickel at 132 lbs by fall (:30), and Justin Simmering at 138 lbs by fall (3:37). After a Keokuk decision win at 152 lbs, Ayden Frazer continued his dominance with a pin (2:49) at 160 lbs. The Demons led 36-21 at this point, but a forfeit and two pins to close the dual gave the Chiefs a 39-36 conference victory.

There were just two contested matches against the Chargers with the Demons winning 46-30. Simmering was the lone winner at 138 lbs with a hard fought 11-0 major decision. Head Coach Brent Van Weelden tells KCII Sports what his team needs to work on. “We are good enough wrestlers that we shouldn’t be going to our back and we went to our back too many times tonight. For the most part it was a good effort, but there are a couple areas that we need to do better.”

The Demons now have an 8-5 dual record and close out the first half of the season tonight and tomorrow for a two-day tournament in Fort Madison.