CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Baylor survived a series of early punches from Bradley Central before rolling to a 49-15 road win in a meeting of wrestling state powers Thursday night.
Connor Duffy and Barrett Chambers dominated in back-to-back fashion for first-period pins at 182 and 220 pounds as the Red Raiders (6-0), the top-ranked team in Division II, closed out the victory against the Bears (5-2), the No. 3 team in Class AAA and winners against DII’s McCallie last week.
However, Baylor’s success Thursday came after Bradley Central brought the fight early and received a jolt of energy from freshman 120-pounder Luke Belcher, who drove reigning state champion Jackson Bond to the mat for a third-round pin. The Bears soon after built a 15-6 edge as Aaron Patterson won 7-4 against Micah Tisdale at 126 in the fifth match of the dual meet.
Things changed when Baylor’s Noah Horst, another reigning state champ, overcame injury time and turned a neck-and-neck battle at 132 into the first of nine straight wins for his team as he caught fire in the third round to beat Gavin Hughes 10-3.
“We love wrestling these guys this early in the season because they are fighters,” Baylor coach Ben Nelson said. “Bradley is going to come out and smack you. You have to wake up and wrestle. Chase Radpour and Luke Collins had two really big wins for us at 145 and 152 that I think helped us go on to win this match.”