The Mathews High School wrestling team lost at home last Wednesday to Washington and Lee (48-31) and King William (44-28).

The competition was originally scheduled to be a quad meet, but Northampton dropped out due to sickness and injuries … the same problem that the Blue Devil wrestlers are experiencing, according to head coach Tom Holaday.

In both contests, Mathews forfeited at the 106-, 113- and 170-pound classes, losing the services of team captain Billy Bower, who was out sick at 170.

Scoring wins for Mathews against Washington and Lee were Sam Moore (132 lbs.), who pinned Lois Chieres in 4:37; Joey Scales (182 lbs.), substituting for sick wrestler A.J. White, pinned Emone Fisher in 39 seconds; Austin Fravel (195 lbs.), who won a 3-2 decision over Gabe Loesel; and Isaiah Maultsby (220 lbs.), who won a 12-2 major decision. Parker Thompson (138 lbs.) and Ronald Rife (160 lbs.) accepted forfeits.

Fravel’s match was the most exciting of the night. He was trailing when he went out of bounds with 10 seconds left. He shot a low single on the whistle to win.

Winners against King William included Caleb Miller (126 lbs.), pin; Moore, major decision over Shan Suszynski, 14-4; Scales, 18-3 decision, and Fravel, 9-8 decision. Thomas Hall (152 lbs.) and Bill Riley (285 lbs.) accepted forfeit wins. With Fravel’s win, his record now stands at 14-1.

Coach Holaday saw some promising performances from a couple of other MHS wrestlers in the King William loss. Although Thompson lost, 8-2, he put forth a great effort to avoid giving up a major decision. Likewise, Tyler Zabel (145 lbs.) lost by tech fall, but wrestled well to avoid a pin.