:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/P5VS3DRCKRXOLUAL4VQH33J2JY.png)
STERLING – Dixon’s dual meet wrestling win over Sterling on Wednesday night generated a mild buzz.
A Bishop brothers battle royale, however, whipped a Musgrove Fieldhouse crowd into a frenzy.
Brad Bishop, the Sterling coach, edged Chris Bishop, the Dixon coach, 11-10 in triple overtime. The family feud, with another Bishop brother, Brad, as the referee, was held just after the Dukes beat the Warriors 38-24.
“We thought, ‘You know, let’s really make it exciting for this crowd tonight,’” Charlie said.
“We know a lot of the people here tonight, and we thought it would be a great atmosphere. The last four years people have been like, ‘Wrestle your brother. Wrestle your brother.’ We just thought we’d try it out this year and see how it goes.”
The seeds for the match between former Dixon High School standouts were sewn last summer in Dixon. Each competed in the Reagan Run, and Chris used a furious sprint to the finish to edge Charlie at the finish line. There has been talk of a rematch, this time on the wrestling mat, ever since.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to do it, but he’s been kind of coaxing me,” Chris said. “I threw a singlet in the bag just in case. When we seriously talked about it, what we wanted to do was create some excitement for people around here. Wrestling’s a great thing. It’s a family sport. It’s something we enjoy, and we just wanted to give back.”
There were 10 contested matches between the Dukes (9-9) and Golden Warriors (7-11), and each won five.
Dixon made the most of their wins as Brenan Chacon (145 pounds), Tevin Johnson (152) and Jon Shippert (195) each posted pins. Zach Lehman (138) won by technical fall, while Dane Scheilein (170) eked out a 7-6 decision over Canaan Gillihan.
Johnson’s win, a pin of Andrew Garcia in 3 minutes, 50 seconds, was a key one for the Dukes. It was just his third win of the season, and gave Dixon a comfortable 29-6 lead at the time.
“I just went out there thinking this was my match to win,” Johnson said. “My New Year’s resolution was to not get put on my back and win, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Leading the way for Sterling was Trever Zinke, who needed just 58 seconds to pin Lucas Sigwards in the 220-pound match. It was the meet’s fastest pin.
Zach DuPuy (120), Austin Olalde (126), Josh Villareal (182) and Curtis Lilly (285) each won decisions for the Golden Warriors.
Lilly, a junior, is close friends with Rick, a senior, and the two have a healthy rivalry on the mat. Lilly estimated they’ve squared off six times in the past three years.
“It’s always been close – 3-2, 1-0, 2-1 – wthere’s only one time where I pinned him, but that’s because he broke his nose during the match,” Lilly said. “It’s been good matches between us through the years.”
Both teams wrestled short-handed. Dixon 106-pounder Jake Johnson didn’t make weight, while Sterling 106-pounder Isaac Anderson was sick. There was a double forfeit at that weight class.
The Golden Warriors were also without Branden Cater (120), who has an undisclosed injury, and Bruno Rodriguez (132), who is in Mexico tending to a family situation.
“We had three guys out of the lineup and kept it close,” Charlie Bishop said.
Star of the match: Trever Zinke (S), pin in 58 seconds
Key performers: Brennan Chacon, Tevin Johnson, Jon Shippert (D), wins by pin
Up next: Dixon at Princeton Invite, Friday and Saturday; Sterling at LaSalle-Peru, Jan. 12