Edgewood wrestling team glad Peyton Arthur is back in the fold

Peyton Arthur just needs an excuse to light a fire in his belly.

Like maybe the deciding match at 113 pounds to end Thursday's delayed wrestling dual between Bloomington North and Arthur's Edgewood Mustangs at the Cougar Den.

These are the moments that brought the sophomore back to the mats after a six-year absence. The kid who was burned out on wrestling has been replaced by one burning on the inside.

"He is fiery," Edgewood coach Greg Ratliff said. "He likes to pace back and forth and he can try to be intense."

After the last of four Edgewood forfeits moved the Cougars within 39-35, Arthur attacked North's Gus Morrow right from the start. In just 48 seconds, it was over and the pin capped off a 45-35 victory.

"I just gave it my all," Arthur said. "I just let that anger take over and it kind of consumes you. I don't know how to explain it.

"I just try to get as mad as I can and just focus on winning and helping the team out."

Arthur has a fresh outlook on wrestling. He started way back in first grade after seeing a flyer promoting the Edgewood wrestling club. Arthur's dad wrested and Ratliff and Arthur connected right away.

But as a fifth grader, he had to move on.

"I was doing it way too much," Arthur said. "I was doing everything I could.

"And then (Ratliff) asked me if wanted to join the wrestling team again. Obviously, yeah, sure. I've known him since I was in first grade. He's a good coach."

It's been a winning combination so far. Arthur is back on the mat and playing the sport he loves. The support has been there, dad has recorded every one of his matches.

"I'm just trying to get back into it and find my groove," Arthur said. "I kind of expected this first year to be a rough year. It's always been an up-and-downhill battle.

"I try to be aggressive, be fast and just try not to be that guy burned out in the third and losing because of that reason. Just little things like being the first one back in the middle."

There was no time for that as he had North's Gus Morrow on his back in no time.

"When it comes down to a match like that, and he thinks he has a chance, he's going to go out and be super aggressive," Ratliff said. "What that's going to do for his confidence, he needs a win like that. And I'm glad he got that.

"It really helped out the team. So he saved the night for us there."

The set up

North also forfeited two weights, leaving Edgewood with a 12-point deficit to make up.

Pins came from Landon Clement at 126 with six seconds left, and Christian Couch at 138 for his first varsity win after stepping in for injured Masen Cornwell. Then a 16-1 tech fall by state ranked Cash Turner at 145 and an 11-3 major at 152 by Michael Neidigh put Edgewood up 27-6 six matches in.

A North forfeit at 195 and Colten Hubbell's quick pin at 220 (25 seconds), were followed by Max Wynalda's 1:23 pin for North and the last of Edgewood's forfeits to set up Arthur's heroics.

"The talk in here was, you can't worry about forfeits at this point," Ratliff said. "We want to treat every match and make it as intense as we can.

"And sometimes, when you don't wrestle every weight class, it seems to drop the intensity. We didn't want that to be the case because we knew that this mattered for sectionals."

North still building up

The night, the loss, was a frustrating one for the young Cougars, who still lack some seasoning. Losing so many matches last year didn't help.

"The problem is a lot of our kids just have to believe in themselves," North coach Ben Farmer said. "And I'm trying to get them to do that. It's been difficult. Wrestling is 70 percent mental. It's just inexperience."

The lack of aggressiveness and confidence helped lead to the bonus points Edgewood needed to escape.

"I think a lot of our guys, I've seen them wrestle better throughout the entire season," Farmer said. "I think that today, Edgewood brought their 'A' game when we didn't."

All of the dual's matches that didn't end in pin or forfeit were decided by eight points or more, including an 18-1 rout by Chase Hostetler at 182. The North wrestlers who got after it, won. Those who didn't suffered the consequences.

"There were some good matches," Farmer said. "Max, Chase and even though he lost (to Turner), Zander (Granquist) fought as best he could. The guys did what I asked them to. We have a lot of work we need to do and we have some changes that we need to make."

COVID break for Edgewood

The Mustangs had to all but shut down the program last week when COVID forced the bulk of the roster to stay home until Tuesday.

"I think they were excited to be back in the room," Ratliff said. "They've got some things to shake off, for sure.

"You don't like to have a week off in the middle of wrestling season. You can't go to a friend's house and wrestle. You can be quarantined and shoot baskets. You can't be quarantined and shoot double-legs (takedowns). We just need to get back into shape."

EDGEWOOD 45, BLOOMINGTON NORTH 35

106: Cas Crevello, BN, won by forfeit; 113: Peyton Arthur, E, p. Gus Morrow, :48; 120: Johnanan Tatman, BN, won by forfeit; 126: Landon Clement, E, p. Kanye Roberts-Gray, 5:55; 132: Joel Silvernail, E, won by forfeit; 138: Christian Couch, E, p. Zander Granquist, 5:18; 145: Cash Turner, E, tf. Jeremiah Casillas, 16-1; 152: Michael Neidigh, E, md. Cesrick Granquist, 11-3; 160: Cael Hickok, BN, won by forfeit; 170: Braden Gillilan, BN, won by forfeit; 182: Chase Hostetler, BN, tf. Trenton Fender, 18-1; 195: Zechariah Yazzie, E, won by forfeit; 220: Colten Hubbell, E, p. Chase May, :26; 285: Max Wynalda, BN, p. Kegan Lane, 1:24.

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Edgewood wrestling team glad Peyton Arthur is back in the fold