Unlikely pin lifts Eagles past Arabians
Jan. 18—FRANKTON — Even with a 12-point head start thanks to a pair of wins by forfeit, the Frankton wrestling team still needed some late heroics to pick up a late season dual win.
Those heroics came from a source who has saved duals before with wins but faced nearly insurmountable odds on this occasion.
Sophomore Daniel Eller won the 113-pound match by fall with just 21.3 seconds remaining while trailing 9-5, giving the Eagles a much needed six points and helping deliver a 42-38 dual win over Pendleton Heights in the final regular season match for the Arabians.
Eller trailed Pendleton Heights freshman Jake Cupp 9-3 entering the final period with the Eagles holding a 36-20 overall lead. Frankton coach Courtney Duncan said the goal was damage control at that point — avoid a loss by major decision and crucial bonus points to the Arabians.
"We always want to minimize bonus points and maximize the bonus points when we get a chance to score them," Duncan said. "To be down — when there's time on the clock there's always time to score and to win. He proved that for us tonight."
Eller had a slightly different mindset.
"I'm just trying not to get pinned and trying to win," he said. "I have to increase my aggressiveness and keep on pushing."
Eller is less than two years into his wrestling career after picking up the sport as a freshman. But he scored a takedown of Cupp in the final period, battled for control and — with time running out — delivered the fall his team needed, boosting his own confidence.
"That was big for me," Eller said. "I'm just trying to push and be a better wrestler overall. This helps my confidence a lot."
Eller's fall also boosted Frankton's team score to 42 points, guaranteeing a team win with three matches — all won by fall for PH — remaining. Duncan added this was not the first time Eller won a pressure match for Frankton.
"You can never count him out," Duncan said. "He won a big dual for us last year against Eastern. He got a big pin that won us a dual last year."
The dual started with the 138-pound match and Thaiden Alexander giving Frankton a strong start with a first-period fall over Jayden Sorrell. That began a 30-10 opening for the Eagles, who got wins by fall from Elijah Knauer (145), Crew Farrell (170) and Braedey Martin (195) and by forfeit from Cane Oakley (160).
Martin's victory over Nate Walls was also of the come-from-behind variety but not quite as dramatic as Eller's. Trailing 2-1 early, Martin evened the match at 3-3 entering the third period and pinned Walls with 26.6 seconds left.
The only wins early for PH came from 152-pounder Jaylen Covington with a first-period fall and an 8-0 major decision from Chris Crank at 182 pounds. The duo represent several Arabians — including unbeaten junior 145-pounder Jack Todd, who is resting an injury ahead of sectional — with postseason aspirations.
"It's been disappointing not having (Todd) in the lineup, but that's part of the sport," PH coach Dave Cloud said. "You have to deal with injuries, but you have to do what's best for the kid."
After Eli Libler scored a 13-5 major decision win at 220 pounds for the Arabians, Frankton unbeaten heavyweight Hunter Branham collected the second forfeit victory for the Eagles and pushed the advantage to 36-14.
At 106 pounds, Brooks Bond of PH pinned Frankton's Jaden Hughes in the first period to trim the Arabians deficit to 36-20 and prompt some quick calculations from the Eagles coaching staff ahead of Eller's match.
"As the dual was going down, we knew it was going to be about matchups," Duncan said. "Coach (Mark) Luzadder and I were trying to figure out the score in our head, and he said if we win one more match, we win the dual. It just so happened that came from Daniel."
The comeback by Eller proved pivotal as Pendleton Heights closed out the dual with wins by fall for Elijah Wolf (120), Max Bowers (126) and Alex Heineman (132). Wolf's and Bowers' wins came in the first period while Heineman put away Carson Ward in the second.
With no seniors on this year's roster, Cloud knows the future is bright for the Arabians and that begins Jan. 28 when the IHSAA postseason begins.
"You have to scrape off the ugliness of the present to see the beauty of the future sometimes," he said.
The Eagles will celebrate their seniors as they host Eastern on Thursday in their regular season finale and will be joined by the Arabians, Alexandria, Anderson, Elwood and Lapel at the sectional hosted by the Panthers.
Contact Rob Hunt at
or 765-640-4886.
